Physicians as educators in adolescent sexuality education

If you teach them, they will come: providers' reactions to incorporating pleasure into youth sexual education

OBJECTIVES

Sexual pleasure and satisfaction are integral components of the human sexual experience, yet these crucial aspects of sexuality are rarely placed on sexual education agendas. The objective of this paper is to explore the ways in which various groups of Service Providers (SPs) participating in the Toronto Teen Survey (TTS) understand the role of pleasure in sexual education for youth, highlighting the challenges and benefits of teaching pleasure in diverse settings.

METHODS

The TTS employed a community-based research (CBR) methodology. Between December 2006 and August 2007, 1,216 surveys were collected from youth in over 90 different community-based settings across Toronto by youth peer researchers. In 2008, 13 follow-up focus groups were conducted with 80 service providers from 55 different agencies around the Greater Toronto Area. All transcripts were input into qualitative data management software, NVIVO. Coding and analysis of data employed the constant comparative method.

RESULTS

SPs had a number of competing opinions about the inclusion of pleasure in sexual health education and programming. These concerns can be divided into three major areas: placing pleasure on the agenda; the role of gender in pleasure education; and the appropriate spaces and professionals to execute a pleasure-informed curriculum.

CONCLUSION

Access to resources, training and personal background determine SPs' willingness and ability to engage in the pedagogy of sexual pleasure. Medically trained clinicians were less likely to see themselves as candidates for instructing youth on issues of pleasure, believing that public health and health promotion professionals were more adequately trained and organizationally situated to deliver those services.

Determining Erciyes University Students' Knowledge About and Attitudes Toward Sexuality

This descriptive study was conducted in order to determine the behaviors and knowledge of Erciyes University students in terms of sexuality. A total of 1,500 final year students from Erciyes University comprised the study group. The data were collected via a questionnaire designed by the researchers. The Chi-square test and student t test were used for statistical analysis. The findings of the study showed 10.9% of the female students and 51.7% of the male students had had a sexual intercourse experience. The average age of the first sexual intercourse experience of the students was 18.2 ± 2.1 years. It was observed that 44.7% of the female students and 36% of the male students were definitely opposed to sexual intercourse before marriage.

A survey of female nursing students' knowledge, health beliefs, perceptions of risk, and risk behaviors regarding human papillomavirus and cervical cancer

PURPOSE

The purpose of the study was to assess knowledge of, perceived susceptibility to, perceived seriousness of, and risk behaviors regarding human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer among female nursing students.

DATA SOURCES

A 40-item survey of HPV and cervical cancer was distributed to a convenience sample of 240 female nursing students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program.

CONCLUSIONS

Female nursing students participate in high-risk sexual behaviors and have a fairly low knowledge level, low perceived susceptibility, and low perceived seriousness regarding HPV and cervical cancer. Knowledge and perceived susceptibility were positively related to number of sexual partners. This may indicate that the women who engage in riskier behavior are more knowledgeable about HPV and their risk of contracting the disease.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Results indicate that all practitioners involved in the care of women should educate them about HPV and its relationship to cervical cancer. Education should include the need to use condoms to prevent HPV and other sexually transmitted diseases.