Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Chris Hani Road, Diepkloof, Soweto, Johannesburg, 1864, South Africa.
Duke University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Durham, USA.
Reprod Health. 2018 Feb 6;15(1):21. doi: 10.1186/s12978-018-0455-1.
Adolescents in South Africa remain vulnerable to HIV. Therefore, it is crucial to provide accessible adolescent-friendly HIV prevention interventions that are sensitive to their needs. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of HIV counsellors and other youth-serving professionals about the barriers to providing adolescent youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services to adolescents in Soweto, South Africa. The study also explored how sexual and reproductive health services in South Africa could be improved to become more accessible to adolescents.
The research team conducted two focus group discussions with HIV counsellors, and 19 semi-structured interviews with youth-serving professionals from organisations working with adolescents. Audio-recorded data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.
The results of the study reveal that counsellors were expected to give adolescents HIV counselling and testing (HCT) but felt restricted by what they perceived as inflexible standard operating procedures. Counsellors reported inadequate training to address adolescent psychosocial issues during HCT. Healthcare provider attitudes were perceived as a barrier to adolescents using sexual and reproductive health services. Participants strongly recommended augmenting adolescent sexual and reproductive health services to include counsellors and adolescents in developing age- and context-specific HIV prevention services for adolescents.
Continuous upskilling of HIV counsellors is a critical step in providing adolescent-friendly services. Input from all relevant stakeholders, including counsellors and adolescents, is essential in designing adolescent-friendly services.
南非的青少年仍然容易感染艾滋病毒。因此，提供方便青少年使用且能满足其需求的艾滋病预防干预措施至关重要。本研究旨在调查艾滋病毒咨询师和其他为青年服务的专业人员对在南非索韦托为青少年提供青少年友好型性健康和生殖健康服务的障碍的看法。该研究还探讨了如何改善南非的性健康和生殖健康服务，使其更容易为青少年所接受。
研究团队与艾滋病毒咨询师进行了两次焦点小组讨论，并与在青少年组织工作的青年服务专业人员进行了 19 次半结构化访谈。对录音数据进行逐字转录，并使用主题分析进行分析。
研究结果表明，咨询师被期望为青少年提供艾滋病毒咨询和检测（HCT），但他们认为标准操作程序缺乏灵活性，因此受到限制。咨询师报告说，在 HCT 期间，他们没有足够的培训来解决青少年的心理社会问题。医疗保健提供者的态度被认为是青少年使用性健康和生殖健康服务的障碍。参与者强烈建议扩大青少年性健康和生殖健康服务，包括让咨询师和青少年参与制定针对青少年的、具有年龄和背景针对性的艾滋病预防服务。
不断提高艾滋病毒咨询师的技能是提供青少年友好型服务的关键步骤。所有相关利益攸关方，包括咨询师和青少年，都必须参与设计青少年友好型服务。
