Implementing routine sexual and reproductive health screening into an Australian child and youth mental health service: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Adolescents living with mental illness are more likely than their peers to engage in risky sexual behaviours such as unsafe sexual practices or drug misuse, which can result in sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unplanned pregnancies and sexual coercion or violence. One barrier to these adolescents receiving sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care is a lack of skills and confidence of mental health clinicians to discuss SRH concerns. Integrating SRH care for adolescents attending mental health services may facilitate access to timely screening and treatment.

METHODS

This pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial involves an educational intervention to train mental health clinicians to conduct brief SRH screening with adolescents (12-17 years) with complex mental health needs attending a child and youth mental health service (CYMHS). The educational intervention is complemented with a referral pathway for a nurse-led SRH consultation where indicated through screening. The study aims to examine the preliminary feasibility and effectiveness of the educational intervention by measuring the number of referrals by clinicians who receive the training for SRH nurse-led consultations compared to untrained clinicians and to measure changes after training in clinician knowledge, skills and confidence to discuss SRH needs of young people accessing the CYMHS. The acceptability of SRH screening and nurse-led SRH consultations in CYMHS will be assessed through qualitative interviews with clinicians, adolescents accessing CYMHS, and their parents.

DISCUSSION

There is an unmet need for care for adolescents living with mental illness who have SRH concerns. This trial seeks to assess the preliminary feasibility, effectiveness and acceptability of a service-wide SRH educational intervention which aims to improve access to SRH care for adolescents accessing CYMHS.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12624001462572. Registered on 16 December 2024. https://anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12624001462572.aspx .