Significance of Sexual Health in Development of Adolescent - Term Paper Example

Sexual Health Name Institution Introduction The paper evaluates the importance of sexual health to the growth and development of the adolescents. It specifically exemplifies the sexual behavior patterns of this group, the causal factors that propagate the same and the associated consequences. The strategies available for shaping the behavior of the youth are expounded with information provision and refraining from drug abuse being the central factors. Information motivation behavior (IMB) has been tipped and extensively discussed as the most viable model to follow as a strategy in addressing the risky sexual behavior among the teens. This has been based on the success the system has gained in past applications. The role of the nurse in handling these cases is explained. The first emphasis is on the professional obligations that should be complied. Next, are the legal rights of the teen that should be protected by the nurse in the process of treatment. Significance of Sexual Health in Development of Adolescent Adolescence is the stage that begins with the onset of puberty, runs through to early twenties in human beings, and is defined by rapid body growth, psychological redefinition, and maturity of the reproductive organs (James & Mott 1988). The adolescence stage comes with many issues for people of both gender one of those being desire to engage in sexual activity. Adolescents get a feeling of independence and go ahead to exploit the same by making sexual decisions. The concern for the public health practitioners is the viability of the decisions they take and the consequences attaching to them. It is on this basis that the topic of sexual health with specific reference to unprotected sex among the adolescents has gained massive attention and this paper will evaluate its significance among other issues. Today, the risks are higher due to puberty setting in early due to improved diet among other reasons. When this happens, it implies that the teens expose themselves to sexual activity at very tender age. A past survey indicated that 10% of children start sexual intercourse at around the age of eleven (Stephen et al. 2010). Given their inability to make informed decisions they end up putting their lives at high risk. The STIs aside, the reproductive organs are at crucial stage of development. Any infection at that age could bring about adverse complications at later stage of marriage life particularly during pregnancy and delivery for female. The situation is not helped by the behavior of young adults to delay their marriage until very late in their twenties and thirties. What this means is that the youth have longer period of exposure to sex with more than one partner (Heidi 2008). When children are coerced into engaging into sexual intercourse then the effects extend to psychological problems. The events make them live in traumas throughout their lives. Their esteem is destroyed and the victims suffer self-rejection. This state is detrimental in the social development of the youth and most of the times they shy away from sharing with family members, friends, and relatives. Most unfortunately, they do not have their own means of accessing medical attention and the situation goes untreated again placing them at high medical risk. When such cases occur the victim is subjected to unbearable levels of distress and may end up in depression. Others may seek solace from drugs and alcoholism that subjects them to further health complications (Heidi 2008). The infections of HIV and other STIs among the Adolescent is fast on the rise. The most vulnerable group is women. The major challenge in initiating preventive competencies for these people arise from the social stigma and moral judgment of the sexual topics. Already in many parts of the world, people who are infected with HIV are confronted with societal condemnation. This state creates fear and denial and they become reluctant to seeking medical information regarding underlying STI (Patel, Yoskowitz & Kaufman 2007). It is worth noting that when a treatable STI goes unattended by professional means then it becomes a serious medical issue and increases the chances of more dangerous infections like Hepatitis B, HIV and others. Past studies on the subject matter have shown high correlation between risky sexual intercourse among the Adolescent and other negative developmental outcomes. Delinquency has been a frequent result according to surveys. Conclusions have been drawn suggesting that most Adolescent have sexual relationship with multiple partners and this increases their exposure to sex related ailments. According to a study done in USA, 10% of the sampled youth admitted to have had sexual intercourse with four or more partners. Most of the HIV infected adults are said to have contracted the virus during their Adolescence stage (Patel, Yoskowitz & Kaufman 2007). There is strong concern for love and sex in relationships and their contribution to risky sexual life. Use of contraceptives to prevent early pregnancies have been found to be having strong connection to the way the woman partner felt about the relationship, and her perception towards the male partner. Many women have explained their risky behavior to strong emotional relationship. Those who perceive their relationship as long-term find no need in using condoms as a protective measure to sexually transmitted diseases. This becomes a risky option since people engage in long standing relationships with more than one partner and transmission can easily be passed from one infected person to an uninfected one with the common partner as the vector. Many adolescents engage in sexual intercourse with a partner for whom they have no love attachment. This further exposes them since they feel no obligation to be faithful to such partners. Studies have shown that out of those adolescents who have indulged in sexual activity 54% have done it without use of condom at least once (Mohsen, Judith, Shahrzad & David 2010). Drug and substance abuse among the adolescent is a major contributor to risky sexual activity. Many abused drugs contribute to impaired judgment. When the youthful population gets exposed to them they are unable to make rational sexual decisions. This contributes directly to new infections among the victims since they generally act carelessly and are unlikely to consider protection when engaging in sexual intercourse. Drugs also contribute indirectly to new infections. When partners cannot get the financial means to purchase them they may use their sexuality to attract money from any person. By so doing, they put their lives at a risk of contracting the said infections. Unfortunately, studies continue to show widespread consumption of drugs among school going children. A survey conducted in 2005 indicated that 43.3% were currently on alcohol while 25.5% were episodic heavy drinkers. Most recently, a survey showed 10% of youths between 12-17 years to be under illicit drug use (YRBS 2006). Strategies Available to the School Nurse in Management of Sexual Health The primary duty of the school nurse is to feed the patients with information regarding their sexual health as much as possible. The first step in reducing the figures of new infections is to let people know of the impending dangers of unprotected sexual intercourse (Bonell et al. 2005). This form of knowledge is vastly lacking among the youthful population due to a number of reasons. One of those is negligence of parents to giving their children sexual advice, since they shy away from discussing sexual matters with their kids. What the consequence is is that these kids end up getting incorrect information and in wrong forums and end up making the wrong choices out of ignorance. Another contributing factor is the inadequacy of the education systems among school curriculums. Many countries offer the subject as an elective one or at very late stages and this means that many young people engage in risky sexual behavior before they access the right information (Jaworski & Carey 2001). Information motivation behavior (IMB) has been accredited as being capable of significantly reducing risky sexual behaviors. The theoretical framework on IMB was first developed by Fisher through an intensive research on HIV-related behaviors. The model holds that sexual behavior is formed by information regarding STIs, knowledge on pregnancy, peer pressure towards sexual activity, and all these attributes together form the individual’s perception about sexual intercourse. The judgment so devised forms the basis on which decisions are made concerning refusal to sexual intercourse, acceptance, and the associated consequences of each decision (Mohsen, Judith, Shahrzad & David 2010). The method has been reported to bear fruits among college students especially the female gender hence its importance cannot be slighted. Other groups to have benefited from the same include women in low-income households, people in drug addiction and patients who are already infected with one sexually transmitted ailments or the other. The model has also been extensively applied among the male homosexuals to effective outcome (Mohsen, Judith, Shahrzad & David 2010). This model has been applied to explain a number of sexually related phenomenons. It explains the diversity in sexual behavior of the older adolescents and condom use among the juvenile offenders. Studies that are more recent have used IMB to examine the correlations that subsist among sexual behaviors, awareness concerning reproductive health, motivation towards sexual activity, peer pressures, and sexual behavior refusal skills. The rationale of this examination has been based on two foundations. One is the deliberate exclusion of the early adolescent individuals in past research studies on sexual activities in the youthful folks. The results of the examination have shown that the factors that influence sexual behavior can significantly be shaped properly and effectively before children get to their teen years. School nurses should heed to this advice and exploit it fully for the benefit of the society (Mohsen, Judith, Shahrzad & David 2010). Secondly, the most vulnerable groups have been identified to be the population living in the most underdeveloped regions. This results from poor or no exposure to formal education plus other inefficiencies during child bring-up. IMB is of much value in exemplifying the causes of sexual behavior among this group and gives viable guidance for behavior modification (Mohsen, Judith, Shahrzad & David 2010). Its application could prove important to these groups of people who may have little assistance from sophisticated programs by national governments or on their own motion. Legal Rights Accruing to the Adolescent in the Case Study The young girl needs to access full sexual rights. Such include right to sexual health care, information on her health status and privacy of the information. It is binding upon the school nurse to adhere to such proceedings when addressing this case. The girl suffers from psychological trauma. The school nurse has to deal with that and bring her to acceptance of the bitter reality, to assist her accept herself and forge ahead with life. Cases of denial and depression should be duly prevented owing to the fact that the young girl presented herself to a health practitioner (Williams et al. 2003). The school nurse must remain sensitive to the fact that the unprotected sexual intercourse put the girl at a risk of STIs including HIV, Chlamydia trachomatis among others that may not be detected immediately. To this reasoning, he/she should take precaution and administer preventive therapies against the commonest infections (Williams et al. 2003). The girl should also have the discretion of whether to have emergency pills administered to prevent unwanted pregnancy or not. However, it would be largely expected that she would recommend that and the nurse should adhere to the directive. The fact that the girl was under influence of drugs implies that the intercourse may have happened without her full consent. This factor coupled with the fact that she is a minor means that her partner may be liable to some legal charges. It would be prudent to do tests that can be used in legal proceedings should the matter end up in the courts (ICRW, 2009). The school nurse should remain sensitive to the privacy of information devised from the patient. The law allows her to benefit from right of confidentiality of sexual health just like an adult. There are state disparities regarding the extent of sexual information that should be disclosed to the parent. The laws vary with respect to whether a parent should be involved in sensitive matters such as abortion and whether the adolescent or the parent holds the final judgment. The nurse should consider the national and state laws existing in the locality and make a decision on the extent of engagement with the parent. References Bonell, C, et al. 2005, ‘The effect of dislike of school on risk of teenage pregnancy: testing of hypotheses using longitudinal data from a randomized trial of sex education,’ Journal of Epidemiol Community Health, Vol.59 pp.223–230. Heidi CF 2008, ‘Concept Analysis: Sexual Decision-Making in Adolescence,’ Nursing Forum, Vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 80-88. International center for research on women, ICRW, 2009, ‘Meeting Report and Recommendations,’ Sex, Rights and the Law in a World with AIDS.’ James, SR & Mott, SR 1988, Child health nursing: Essential care of children and families Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Jaworski BC & Carey MP 2001, ‘Effects of a brief, theory-based STD prevention program for female college students,’ J Adolescent Health, Vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 417-425. John, EA & Trisha, EM 2008, ‘Trends in Sexual Risk Behavior and Unprotected Sex Among High School Students, 1991-2005: The Role of Substance Use,’ Journal of School Health, Vol. 78, no. 11,No pp.575- 580. Mohsen, B Judith, AS Shahrzad, BH & David, WH 2010, ‘Using the Information-Motivation Behavioral Model to Predict Sexual Behavior Among Underserved Minority,’ Youth Journal of School Health, Vol. 80,no.6, pp. 288-295. Patel, VL, Yoskowitz, NA & Kaufman, DR 2007, ‘Comprehension of sexual situations and its Stephen, NA, Abdoulaye, D, Harry, LK, Curtis, H & Ashish, D 2010, ‘Correlates of Sexual Risk Behaviors Among High School Students in Colorado: Analysis and Implications for School-based HIV/AIDS Programs,’ Maternal Child Health Journal, Vol. 15, pp.730–741. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results From the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings. Rockville, Md: Office of Applied Studies; 2006. NSDUH Series H-30, DHHS Publication no. SMA 06-4194. Williams, H, Tabrizi, SN, Lee, W, Kovacs, GT, & Garland, S 2003, ‘Adolescence and other risk factors for Chlamydia trachomatis genitourinary infection in women in Melbourne,’ Australia Sex Transmission Infection, Vol.9, pp.31–34. Read More