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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Dona Milne and Peter Donnelly, MD MPH MBA FRCP. Social Inclusion Manager: Sexual Health, Lothian NHS Board, 148 Pleasance, Deaconess House, Edinburgh, EH8 9RS, United Kingdom, 0131-536-9454, dona.milne@lhb.scot.nhs.uk
Background Healthy Respect, the National Health Demonstration Project on young people’s sexual health aims to transform the sexual attitudes of young people by introducing initiatives which will bring about positive changes in their behaviour regarding sexual health and relationships.
Method The project has three focused objectives for improving young people’s sexual health: · increasing young people’s self-esteem and confidence; · reducing teenage pregnancies and · decreasing the level of sexually transmitted infections amongst young people in Lothian.
Results The project is creatively delivered through 13 partner agencies working in the fields of sexual health, education and young people’s services. This multi-disciplinary approach, coupled with a mass media campaign has enabled the project to effectively reach a wide range of young people, including those traditionally identified as hard to reach.
The project’s approach fully recognises the importance of increasing self-esteem and confidence amongst our young people to enable them to make and implement informed choices and decisions. This approach is supported by an increase in education and information available to young people and greater access to services.
Conclusions The ultimate vision of the project is to create a Healthy Respect amongst young people, for themselves and others.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Adolescent Health, Behavior Modification
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.