Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Publication
    Sexual Health and Sexuality Education Needs Assessment of Young People in Care in Ireland (SENYPIC). A Descriptive Mapping of Services Promoting Sexual Health among Young People in Care. Report No. 2
    (HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme and Child & Family Agency (Tusla), 2016-03) ; ; ; ; ;
    This second report from the programme of research 'Report No. 2: A Descriptive Mapping of Services Promoting Sexual Health among Young People in Care' presents information on current services and initiatives relating to relationships and sexual health information and services that are currently available to young people in residential care and foster care. The information on the services presented was based on reports from the e-survey report (Report no. 1) and follow up interviews with service providers and social workers. While a range of services is presented in this report, and every effort was made for the e-survey to be inclusive, it is possible that some services were not captured.
      197
  • Publication
    The role of knowledge in the contraceptive behaviour of sexually active young people in state care
    Aim: To analyse the role of sex-focused knowledge in the contraceptive behaviour of sexually active young people in state care. Methods: The sample consisted of 19 care leavers (young people previously in state care) aged 18–22 years, 16 females and 3 males. In-depth interviewing was the method of data collection, and a qualitative strategy resembling modified analytical induction was used to analyse data. Findings: Findings indicated that a lack of information was not the sole or even the primary reason for engaging in unsafe sexual practices. Other factors such as ambivalence to becoming pregnant also featured in participants' accounts. Several participants conveyed a relatively weak sense of agency about consistently using contraception. A small number of participants expressed a strong determination to avoid pregnancy, and these appeared to have a level of anxiety about becoming pregnant that motivated them to engage with knowledge about contraception and its use. Conclusion: Lack of sex-focused information is just one aspect of a myriad of complex factors, including socioeconomic disadvantage and/or emotional deprivation, that influence contraceptive behaviour.
      352Scopus© Citations 4
  • Publication
    Young people's views on the impact of care experiences on their ability to form positive intimate relationships
    Existing literature tells us that one of the factors important to the sexual health and intimate relationships of adolescents is the extent to which teenagers feel emotionally connected and supported by their families. In this article, we analyse the experiences of disconnectedness from their families and transience during childhood reported by a sample of young adults formerly in care, and the influence they believed this had on their sense of security and later intimate relationships. The sample comprised 19 young adults aged 18–22 years who were interviewed about experiences associated both directly and indirectly with sexual health, during which childhood experiences of transience emerged as an issue. Findings indicated that disconnectedness and transience were experienced as distressing for participants, generating feelings of rejection and compromising their sense of trust in others. Feelings of insecurity and mistrust were reported by some to influence their adult relationships. We conclude that while not always possible, social care professionals should endeavour to support enduring relationships with trusted adults and continuity of carer among young people in care.
    Scopus© Citations 11  382
  • Publication
    Sexual Health and Sexuality Education Needs Assessment of Young People in Care in Ireland (SENYPIC): The Perspectives of Key Service-Providers: A Qualitative Analysis. Report No. 3
    (HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme and Child & Family Agency (Tusla), 2016-03) ; ; ; ; ;
    This report presents findings gathered by way of in-depth interviews with 22 service-providers engaged in direct or indirect provision of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) or sexual healthcare to young people in care. The findings build on Reports No. 1 and No. 2. The report sets out that while many service-providers support the provision of comprehensive RSE to young people in care, many report issues relating to the legal and policy situation that cross-cuts their work, creating uncertainty about how to approach both RSE and the delivery of sexual healthcare. Organisational legacy issues and a lack of workable and pragmatic guidelines were perceived to be key barriers.
      317
  • Publication
    Sexual Health and Sexuality Education Needs Assessment of Young People in Care in Ireland (SENYPIC). The Perspectives of Care Leavers: A Qualitative Analysis. Report No. 5
    (HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme and Child & Family Agency (Tusla), 2016-03) ; ; ; ;
    This report clearly identifies the particular vulnerabilities associated with young people in care (YPIC). Although YPIC are not a homogenous group and arrive in State care for a multiplicity of reasons, engaging in risky behaviours, including drugs, alcohol and early sexual behaviour when in care, was commonly reported by the participants. Almost all of the participants reported having had first sex before the age of 17. What is particularly concerning is that virtually none of the descriptions of early sexual experiences involved sexual competence on their part – that is, use of contraception; autonomy in decision-making; being equally willing as partner at the time of sex; and absence of regret following sex. With regard to relationships and sexuality education (RSE), care-leavers reported that different people played different roles in their lives and the level and quality of RSE delivery varied considerably.
      319
  • Publication
    Doing relationships and sexuality education with young people in state care
    Background: Existing literature indicates that young people in state care have particular sexual health needs that include addressing their social and emotional well-being, yet little has been published as to how these components of sex education are actually delivered by service-providers. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the processes involved in delivering relationship and sexuality education to young people in state care from the perspectives of a sample of service-providers with a role in sexual health-care delivery. Design: Qualitative methodological strategy. Setting: Service-delivery sites at urban and rural locations in Ireland. Method: A total of 22 service-providers were interviewed in depth, and data were analysed using a qualitative analytical strategy resembling modified analytical induction. Findings: Participants proffered their perceptions and examples of their practices of sex education in relation to the following themes: (1) acknowledging the multi-dimensional nature of sexual health in the case of young people in care; (2) personal and emotional development education to address poor self-esteem, emotional disconnectedness and an inability to recognise and express emotions; (3) social skills’ education as part of a repertoire of competencies needed to negotiate relationships and safer sex; (4) the application of positive social skills embedded in everyday social situations; and (5) factual sexuality education. Conclusion: Insights into service-providers’ perceptions of the multi-dimensional nature of the sexual health needs of young people in state care, and the ways in which these service-providers justified their practice make visible the complex character of sex education and the degree of skill required to deliver it to those in state care.
    Scopus© Citations 4  348
  • Publication
    The perceived impact of interprofessional information sharing on young people about their sexual health care
    This paper presents the results from an analysis of data from service-providers and young adults who were formerly in state care about how information about the sexual health of young people in state care (YPISC) is managed. In particular, the analysis focuses on the perceived impact of information sharing between professionals on young people. Twenty two service-providers from a range of professions including social work, nursing and psychology, and 19 young people aged 18-22 years who were formerly in state care participated in the study. A qualitative approach was employed in which participants were interviewed in depth and data were analysed using modified analytical induction (Bogdan & Biklen 2007). Findings suggest that within the care system in which service provider participants worked, it was standard practice that sensitive information about a young person’s sexual health would be shared across team members, even where there appeared to be no child protection issues. However, the accounts of the young people indicated that they experienced the sharing of information in this way as an invasion of their privacy. An unintended outcome of a high level of information-sharing within teams is that the privacy of the young person in care is compromised in a way that is not likely to arise in the case of young people who are not in care. This may deter young people from availing themselves of the sexual health services.
      332
  • Publication
    Sexual Health and Sexuality Education Needs Assessment of Young People in Care in Ireland (SENYPIC): A Survey of Service-provider Perspectives. Report No. 1
    (HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme and Child & Family Agency (Tusla), 2016-03) ; ; ; ; ;
    This first report from the programme of research, ‘Report No. 1: A Survey of Service-provider Perspectives’ presents findings gathered by way of electronic survey (e-survey), which was circulated to those working with young people in care. The purpose of this approach was to gather information with as broad a range of service providers as possible to get a clear picture of needs from their particular perspective. The findings point to the broader psychosocial issues linked to the lives of many young people in care and how these are inextricably linked to sexual health and sex education needs. The results also identify a number of barriers faced by service providers in providing sexual health education and information and those working with young people in care.
      195
  • Publication
    Sexual Health and Sexuality Education Needs Assessment of Young People in Care in Ireland (SENYPIC). The Perspectives of Foster Carers and Birth Parents: A Qualitative Analysis. Report No. 4
    (HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme and Child & Family Agency (Tusla), 2016-03) ; ; ; ;
    The report finds that fostering was largely a positive experience for foster carers, although experiences varied according to the young people involved. Foster carers were very aware that many YPIC had additional needs relating to emotional and social skills, and to address these needs they reported using family norms and household boundaries as a method of imparting social skills. The majority of foster carers engaged in a variety of approaches to RSE, and some reported use of covert references to sexual behaviour and use of humour when telling young people about the importance of safer-sex. What is particularly interesting about this report is that the indirect approaches to RSE delivered by foster carers mirrored those reported by parents of teenagers (not in care) who were interviewed for the 2009 research project 'Parents’ Approaches to Educating their Pre-adolescent and Adolescent Children about Sexuality'. What is clear from both reports is that parents and foster carers have additional supports and resource needs to support them in delivering RSE effectively to young people at-home, as current strategies were often indirect and not always effective.
      168
  • Publication
    Sexual Health and Sexuality Education Needs Assessment of Young People in Care in Ireland (SENYPIC): Composite Report of Findings. Report No. 6
    (HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme and Child & Family Agency (Tusla), 2016-03) ; ; ; ; ;
    The aim of this report is to bring together the findings from the five standalone reports comprising the SENYPIC programme of research in one succinct report.
      289