Teenage Sexual Health - Essay Example

?Running head: CASE REVIEW OF 15 YEAR OLD GIRL Case Review of 15-year-old Girl Insert Insert Insert 25 August Case Review of 15 year old Girl Introduction Sexual health is “a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity” (CDC, 2011). Sexual health is an essential element of the general overall wellbeing of any person, thus it requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, and creating an ambient environment that may allow pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence when deemed appropriate (WHO, 2011). Based on this information sexual health is a very broad subject that include information relating to ones own body and how its works, knowledge of the physical, emotional and social changes that take place during puberty, pregnancy, youth and ageing. Further, it includes the precautionary measures that are aimed at protecting sexuality of yourself and others, and measures that can be put in place when the safety is broke in instances such as unplanned pregnancy, rape, or sexually transmitted diseases. In essence, it will also entail information relating to responding to children’s sexual exploitations and behaviours to the level of understanding and maintaining safe and happy adult relationships (HealthInsite, 2011). Adolescence and sexual changes Sexual health is a life long part of human beings that accompany them from conception, birth, childhood, adolescence to adolescence. Adolescence is a period of life that is marked with the greatest sexual changes within the body of a person. It is marked by rapid numerous hormonal changes that transform the body of a girl into that of a woman and a boy into man. Thus, it is a transition period between the childhood and adulthood. In this stage, the general calmness and peacefulness of childhood is replaced by a rush of biological sensations, emotions, feelings, social challenges, and interpersonal questions that were never there before (Newton 2010). These transformations make an individual to start relating with other individuals of the same and opposite sex in different new ways that may involve sexual contact and intercourse. Revelation of sexuality brings many joys and physical pleasures but may turnout to be a very risky and destructive human behaviour. Sexual health issues outcomes When an adolescent engage in sexual contact and intercourse many outcomes may arise, thus for our 15 years old girl the following outcomes were possible. First, there is possibility of conception, which leads to unplanned pregnancy (Weiss, 2009). This was a very likely outcome since studies have shown that age of first sexual intercourse is an important determinant of pregnancy risk with 46% of teenage girls and 22% of teenage boys who engage in their first sexual experience before the age 15 years having been involved in a pregnancy (Ehiri, 2009, p378). This outcome can be even worse especially where two teenagers (like in this case of a 15-year-old girl having unprotected sex intercourse with her 19-year-old boyfriend) who just began their sexual activity experience. Considering that this girl and her teenage boy friend they had not used any contraceptive during the intercourse unplanned pregnancy could have resulted which would have made her not likely to complete school education, more likely to face limited career and economic opportunities, and less likely than older women to obtain timely prenatal and postnatal care (Ehiri, 2009, p378). Research further show that babies from teenage mothers are more likely to be preterm, have low birth weight, and also are at greater risk of serious and long-term illness, development delays and death in the first year of life (WHO 2006). This mainly because they may have many issues to contemplate before starting a family or may even lack any means of sustaining one (Cherry 2001). With the rapid hormonal changes taking place in the body of teenagers, family planning become a difficult issue to undertake for young people who are not yet completely out of their childhood (Chambers & Wakley, 2001). Another possibility is that of health consequences through spread and infection of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The effects of these sexually transmitted diseases vary with some being just irritating and inconvenient while others are very serious to the extent they can led to death (Marr, 2007). Diseases like HIV/AIDS, syphilis, hepatitis, chlamydia are quite life threatening while other infections are very irritating but not very life threatening. Thus, due to suspicion of such infections our 15 years old girl had to under go the Chlamydia screening. Screening is a very effective method for detecting asymptomatic infections such as chlamydia that may led to pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility (Stephenson, et al, 2003). For our 15 years old girl she was at a very risky position to contract STIs since studies have shown that there have been a 57% increase in the total number of STIs diagnosed over the past decade especially chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea among the 15 to 24 year olds (Jolley, 2006, p25). Determining the exact number of people with chlamydia in the UK has been quite difficulty due to it symptomless nature of up to 80% in infected females and 50% of infected males (Jolley, 2006, p25). Chlamydia can be treated easily with antibiotics but when left untreated it can lead to serious problems and also other STIs have become a major threat to sexual health of teenagers with government calling for Department of Health to awaken in its efforts to fight these challenges among the countries young people. Thus our 15 year old girl in her risky sex behaviour she was risky contracting not only chlamydia but also other STIs such as HIV/AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea. The teenagers are faced by many other problems relating to their sexual health including questioning their own sexual orientation and gender identity something which was not bothering them during their childhood, unsafe abortion, infertility, gender-based violence, sexual dysfunction, and discrimination on basis of sexual orientation all which have been well studied (POST 2004). Due to these challenges, the society must come up with a way to provide information and guidance for the teenagers to enable them prepare and cope with these challenges (Newton 2010). Interventions on sexual health The sexual health issues facing the teenagers affect not only the immediate family, but also the community, countries and the world at large. Thus, it is paramount for the parents, health Programme managers, policy-makers and care providers to understand and promote the potentially positive role sexuality can play in teenagers’ lives, and build health services to promote sexually healthy societies (WHO 2006). Helping the teenagers to cope with the sexual health issues is a collective responsibility of all the above stakeholders therefore each party involved must play the right role to enable the teenagers to cope with their sexual issues and live sexually healthy life. Studies have revealed that over the last few decades there have tremendous transformations in understanding teenage sexuality and sexual behaviour with various interventions being put in place such as the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) by the British Government in 1999 with aim of reducing the rate of teenage conception rates by half by the year 2010 (Wilkinson 2008). This intervention targeted incorporating the national and local dimensions in tackling teenage sexual risk behaviours in the UK. In our 15 years old girl case, the measures included first, testing for possible pregnancy. The second measure involves carrying out chlamydia screening and other screenings for STIS. The third measure involves providing guidance and appropriate information in relation to sexuality and sex education. Another measure includes preventing future unplanned pregnancies laying out an appropriate contraception program involving long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) that assist all women of reproductive age from conception for longer periods (NICE 2006). The last measure involves providing support to the girl and following up on her progress towards better sexual healthy through the local young persons sexual health advisor. Apart from the above-mentioned interventions, the stakeholders involved with efforts to assist teenagers to embrace sexuality health find the following interventions to be quite helpful. The first is introduction of sex and relationships education (SRE) in schools. Secondly, there are initiatives aimed at improving communication between parents and children on matters relating to sexuality and sex education, and finally, promotion of public awareness programs aimed at preventing and treating STIs, and providing sexual health information to the whole population. Introduction of SRE in schools has been implemented in some countries such as USA and UK with some level of success as over 90 percent of parents believe that SRE makes young people more responsible about sexuality though many agree that it purpose should be that of supplementing family based sex education (Wellings, et al., 2001). This education emphasis on abstinence but also offer information on matters concerning contraception, safe sex behaviours, handling of pressure and attitudes to sex. Studies have shown that SRE in schools has positive effects such as delaying initiation of sex, reducing frequency of sex or number of sex partners, and increasing usage of condoms and other contraceptive methods (Kirby & Laris, 2009). The input of parent in the sex education of their children is widely recognized and therefore local initiatives to improve communication between the parents and their children should be encouraged. Studies have clearly shown that young people who discuss sex with their parents are not likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour than their counterparts (BMRB International 2003). Public awareness campaigns aimed at promoting sexual health can be another vital element in health the teenagers to understand their sexuality and cope with their sexual health challenges. For example, the Department of Health’s ‘RUThinking?’ campaign that targets 11-18 years olds through radio and print advertising directing young people to websites and telephone help lines for additional sexual health information and details on local services (POST 2004). Sexual health assumptions or myths Handling of adolescent sexual health issues is associated with assumptions or myths such as teenagers are ignorant and careless with sexual risks; and children of single parents are more likely to engage in sexual health risks than those with both parents. The assumption that teenagers are ignorant and careless is quite profound in various studies, government, and society efforts to address teenage sexual risky behaviour (Ryu, Kim &Kwon, 2007). According to this assumption, adolescents are more likely to engage in premature initiation into sex intercourse, risky sex behaviour, become pregnant due to ignorance and carelessness, and they lack the moral obligation to understand their sexuality (Wilkinson 2008). But studies challenging this assumption have shown that young people with accurate sexual knowledge (from parents and school lesions) are more likely to avoid risky sexual behaviours and understand their sexuality better than the uninformed or those who rely on friends and media as the source of their sexual information (Lou & Chen 2009). Thus, in our 15 years girl case the cause of predicament can be associated with misinformation or relying friends and media in understanding her sexuality rather than just being ignorant and careless. Some interventions have been based on the misguided notion that children of single parent are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviours. Studies supporting this assumption argue that families with both parents are able to offer more support and knowledge that are positively associated with contraceptive use, social skills in sexual interactions, sexual satisfaction, and delay of sexual debut than families with single parents (de Graaf, et al., 2010). Research has proven this notion otherwise by showing that what matters in shaping children to achieve better sexual health is the kind of sexual education that a child receives from parent, school and community but not the type of family set up he/she comes up from (Eastman et al 2005). Thus it is the type of sexual education that a child receives that can play a significant role in promoting healthy sexual development and risk reduction among adolescents but not the kind of parenting the child receives (DiClemente, Crosby & Salazar 2006). Studies show that approximately 40 percent admit that they have received little or no sex information from their parents (BMRB International 2003). Therefore, if a child is within this percentage it will be disadvantaged in terms of level of sexual education despite coming from any of the family set up. Hence, in the case of this 15 years old girl we cannot just relate her risky sexual behaviour to her coming from single mother family but rather on the education, she might have received from peers and the society or lack of any sexual education from her mother and community. Conclusion To safeguard the future of adolescent sexual health it is necessary for all stakeholders to promote sex education that put emphasis on sexual responsibility and sexual decision-making. Professional education of healthcare providers should also be encouraged to produces experts who can respond to adolescent sexuality, resultant problems and be useful resources. Family planning clinics should be more access and sensitive to the adolescent needs. Additionally, adoption contraceptive technology that is safe, easy to use and over all effective should be promoted to cater for adolescent needs. Reference list BMRB International. 2003. Evaluation of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. Tracking Survey, Report of9 waves of research. CDC. 2011. Sexual Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, (Online). Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/sexualhealth/ (Accessed August 28, 2011). Chambers, C. & Wakley, G., 2001. Tackling teenage pregnancy: sex, culture and needs. 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