Accessibility and uptake of reproductive health education during earlier youth according to 18 and 19 year old college students in the Cape Town metropolitan area

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Reproductive health is the right of every person. The new Children's Act (Act 38 of2005) gives to children 12 years and older rights to reproductive health, whichincludes contraceptive access as well as information on sexuality and reproduction.They have the right to HIV/AIDS testing and treatment with only their own consent.The aim of the study was to investigate the personal and contextual factors whichinfluence the accessibility and uptake of reproductive health education during earlyyouth (13 to 18 years). The study also aimed to identify contextually appropriaterecommendations toward improved reproductive health provision for these youths.A descriptive, non-experimental, research design was employed with a primarilyquantitative approach. A sample of 270 participants, constituting 20% of the studypopulation (N=1373) was randomly selected from Northlink FET Colleges, CapeTown. A self-completion structured questionnaire was used to collect the data.Ethical approval was obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee of theFaculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University. Permission to conduct theresearch was obtained from the management of Northlink FET College.A group of 30 participants, who met the inclusion criteria, constituting 11% of thesample, participated in a pilot study. Reliability and validity were assured by meansof a pilot study and the use of experts in the field, nursing research and statistics.Data was collected personally by the Principal Investigator.The data analysis was primarily descriptive in nature and presented in frequencytables, proportions and measures of relationships, using where indicated Chi-square(x2) and Mann-Whitney U tests. A thematic approach was used to analyze thequalitative data yielded from the open-ended question. Subsequently, in order tostrengthen the investigation, the qualitative data, within the identified themes, wasquantified based on a validated analytical approach.The results show that 74.1% (n=195) of participants were sexually experienced bythe time of the study. Of the participants who reported having already had sexualintercourse, 60.5% (n=115) indicated having made their sexual début by the age of16. A third of participants (33.2%,n=77) received their first reproductive healtheducation by age 13. Only half of the participants (50.4%,n=116) indicated that thereproductive health education they received always influenced them to make safer sex choices. Of the participants, 21.9% (n=59) stated that they felt that they were insome way hindered in accessing contraceptives during age 13 to 18 years.The vast majority of the participants (94.4%, n=255) indicated that they would preferreproductive health education to be provided by a professional healthcare provider ata clinic (61.5%, n=166) or by a nurse at school (33%; n=89). Increased reproductivehealth education within the schooling systems was requested by 52 (19.3%)participants, with more than 30% (n=84) indicating their home as the preferredsource of such education.Several recommendations, grounded in the study findings, were identified, includingthe provision of reproductive health care and accessibility to contraceptives foryouths as young as 12 years within a school setting. This care should be provided byhealthcare professionals, such as nurses, on a similar operating basis as that whichis provided in primary health clinics. The findings reveal to the pressing need for thedevelopment, implementation and evaluation of an alternative model for reproductivehealth care provision in order to assure the complete deliverance of the rights andcare to youths as stipulated in the new Child Act (Act 38 of 2005).

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University