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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Rebecca Koladycz, MA, International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, 120 Wall Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10005-3902, 212-214-0256, RKoladycz@ippfwhr.org and Alejandra Meglioli, MA, Programs, International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western hemisphere Region, 120 Wall Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10005.
Affiliates of International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) in Brazil, Ecuador and Peru are working to improve the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of young people by increasing young people’s access to and use of services. A key strategy is to offer services to young people in an environment that is friendly and comfortable. While the associations in Brazil and Peru are expanding existing youth services, the provision of these services specifically for young people is new in Ecuador.
To assess the “youth-friendliness” of clinics and services, the associations implemented a client exit survey to gather information from young clients. To ensure that “youth-friendliness” was defined by youth themselves, a checklist developed by the IPPF Youth Committee was adapted for use as a client exit survey. Recognizing the special needs of youth, the survey incorporates questions about the accessibility of the clinic, attitudes of staff, choice of a range of services, confidentiality and privacy.
Surveys were completed by 328 youth in the clinics. To compensate for courtesy-bias, questions with at least 5% of respondents expressing dissatisfaction are considered in need of improvement. The associations found that nearly all items identified as important to youth required some action. Areas with the lowest levels of satisfaction related to choice (opportunity to choose a full range of services or to select a provider) and privacy. Using these results, action plans were developed to improve the “youth-friendliness” of services and clinics, and follow-up surveys will be administered.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Adolescent Health, Reproductive Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: APROFE, Ecuador
BEMFAM, Brazil
INPPARES, Peru
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.