Communities and Schools Promoting Health

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Webquest on Sexual Health:
 Youth Friendly Doctor's Office, Clinics and Sex

Prepared By: Mary Shannon & Doug McCall  
Sponsored By: www.sexualityandu.ca

 See the Teacher's Guide to this Webquest


 

Number of People for this WQ

  • At least 3 students

Outcomes for this WQ:

  • Know more about health services

  • Know where to locate services

  • Anticipate barriers to service delivery 

  • Develop a plan for use of health services

Materials for this WQ

  • School and parent permission to conduct a survey in community may be required

 Documents for This WQ

Student Tools for this WQ

Evaluation Criteria/Procedure

Participation  

 


 

Introduction

Visiting a doctor or local health clinic should be a normal and easy part of a teen's plan to maintain their sexual health. This is often easier said than done. Many young people do not use these health services. Discover why in this webquest.

Task 

In this webquest, students will read selected articles and fact sheets that describe the sexual health services to which they are entitled. They will also read what doctors and health clinics should be doing according to their medical (doctor's) associations as well as articles that describe barriers that youth face in accessing such services. Using that research, as well as their own analysis, students will then interview staff at a doctor's office/health clinic to assess youth friendliness.

Process

  1. In the first step, students will read selected fact sheets and articles about sexual health services that young people can use to maintain their health. As you read the web pages listed below, complete the Quality Service Chart that lists what a person can/should ask about, things that might make young people nervous or cautious in using that service and ways that youth can overcome barriers or poor service delivery. These readings should help to identify what youth can ask about or expect from these services (2nd column in chart).

  2. Next read the following position statements or professional practice guidelines published by Canadian doctors' associations. Use this information to add points to your Quality Service Chart. (These readings will help you complete the 4th column in the chart, as well as the section on General Criteria for Youth-Friendly Services.

    Also read What You Should Know and Be Your Own Health Care Activist for youth-oriented tips on how to get health care professionals to take you seriously.
     

  3. Read the results of this Canadian study on how often (or seldom) young people use sexual health services. Answer the questions by referring to the page or table in the report indicated in brackets.

    • How many grade 9 and grade 11 students visited a doctor or health clinic for a regular check-up in the past 12 months?
    • How many grade 9 and grade 11 students visited a doctor for birth control or pregnancy in the last year?
      •
    • How many grade 9 or grade 11 students visited a doctor for testing/treatment of sexually transmitted infections in the past year?
    • What proportion (percentage) of grade 9 or grade 11 students report that doctors, nurses or clinics are their main source of sexual health information?
    • What proportion (percentage) of Canadian grade 9 or grade 11 students would be too embarrassed to see a doctor or nurse if they had an STI?
    • What proportion of heterosexual grade 9 or grade 11 boys are too embarrassed to buy a condom?

    Now read these reports on the barriers that prevent young people from using sexual health services.

    Use the information from these additional readings and results of the Canadian study to complete your Quality Service Chart on how adolescents can access sexual health services for different types of information. (These readings should help you identify things that make youth nervous or that create barriers - 3.6 Personal Health Journal)

    Fill in the different cells of the chart, using the information you have gathered from     Step 1 and Step 2. Be sure to note what is supposed to be available, what barriers might make youth not use the service and how adults can make these services youth-friendly.

    Be as complete as possible. Hand in one completed chart for all of the members of the group.
     

  4. Next, prepare an interview questionnaire, locate suitable doctors' offices/health clinics in your community and then visit them.

    Print the     Draft Interview Questionnaire for Doctor's Office/Clinic Staff and review these questions. Make sure that the points you have noted in your Quality Service Chart are covered by the questions you will ask in your interview.

    Submit your interview questions to your teacher for approval prior to approaching a local doctor's office or health clinic. Be sure to include an explanation of why you have changed, deleted or added questions to the questionnaire on a separate page.

    Locate a suitable doctor's office or health clinic in your community. If necessary, use these web pages to locate one in your community, or you can use your local telephone directory.

    Use the procedures suggested in Section 3.5 of the Personal Health Journal to prepare for your interview. Consult with your teacher about how to request an interview for the doctor's office or health clinic.

    Also review the     evaluation criteria for conducting interviews with health experts and others to see how this aspect of your work will be evaluated.

    Conduct your interview.

    Prepare a three-page report on your interview using the information you have gained for the interview. In this report, discuss how the local doctor's office/clinic compares to the ideas you have gathered in your     Quality Service Chart.

    Finish off by completing a self-evaluation of your individual and the group's participation in the webquest. Use Section 3.5 of the     Personal Health Journal to do this assessment. All students doing this webquest should complete an assessment and submit it to their teacher.

How Your Work will be Evaluated

All students working together on this webquest will complete the Quality Service Chart together, using the information gathered in Steps 2 and 3. The chart should include points that you have learned from the readings. Your work will be evaluated on how complete the chart is.

All students will be evaluated together on how they have adapted the Draft Interview Questionnaire. Your teacher will be looking to see how you have adapted the questionnaire so include all points that you think are important. Make sure that you explain why you have changed, added or deleted questions from the draft on a separate page.

The students in your group will also be evaluated on how well you conducted the interview with a staff person at the doctor's office or local health clinic. Ask your teacher how these evaluation criteria for health interviews will be adapted for this webquest.

The group's report on the interview will also form part of the evaluation of this webquest. Your teacher will be looking to see how complete and accurate your report is. Review the final two sections of the evaluation criteria for health interviews for tips on writing this report.

Make sure to refer back to the points you developed in your Quality Service Chart when making your conclusions on youth friendliness of the doctor's office or clinic.

Finally, each student will be evaluated on their individual assessment on how well the group worked together.

Conclusions and Extensions

As an extension to this webquest, students could adapt their interview questions into a survey of several local doctors' offices and clinics. This survey could be sent to the offices, collected and a report written on the findings. The report could be circulated (with anonymous findings) back to the doctors' offices and clinics with recommendations from the students on how things could be made friendlier to youth.

As well, students could take this similar webquests on Pharmacies and Sex.