Summary

In this study session, you have learned that:

• Reproductive services that are accessible to, acceptable by and appropriate for adolescents and young people are called adolescent- and youth-friendly reproductive health (AYFRH) services.
• The characteristics of AYFRH services relate to the service providers, the health facility itself, and the programme design.
• The service provider characteristics include specially trained staff, respect for young people, privacy and confidentiality, and adequate time for client–provider interaction.
• Health facility characteristics include convenient space/location, convenient hours, comfortable surroundings, peer counsellor availability.
• Programme design characteristics include involvement of young people, no overcrowding and short waiting time, affordable fees, wide range of services available, and necessary referrals available.
• Services intended to be provided in AYFRH services include information and counselling on family planning, promotion of healthy sexual behaviours, SRH issues management of STIs, antenatal care, delivery care, PMTCT, postnatal care, post-abortion care, testing for HIV and pregnancy, and referral services.
• There are many factors that affect the utilisation of available sexual and reproductive health services by young people and these include individual/personal factors, institutional factors and social/cultural factors.
• You have important roles in reducing these barriers to service utilisation.
• You need to establish good rapport while interacting with young people in order to properly identify and respond to their needs.
• You can consider using the HEADS (HEADS is an acronym for Home, Education/employment, Eating, Activity, Drugs, Sexuality, and Suicide/depression) assessment for proper history taking in a young person.