Context. Client involvement in service development

Self-management is an acceptable option within sexual health services if informal support is available. Self-management options in clinical services could mean that 8% of clients at 6% of visits do not need to see a clinician, thus freeing up clinical capacity.

Objectives To test the feasibility of professional patients as a tool for sexual health service evaluation. Professional patients are paid to use services specifically for audit or evaluation purposes without disclosing their identity as evaluators.Methods Professional patients visited five large sexual health departments used by 3000 clients per week in two inner London Boroughs with very high rates of sexual ill health. They recorded their experience on a structured evaluation form. Semi-structured telephone interviews were completed with seven service providers to document their experience of the programme.Results Recruitment and training for professional patients is described. Forty professional patients made 105 visits during two rounds of visits 9 months apart. After 47% (round 1) and 62% (round 2) of visits, the professional patients felt that they would recommend the service to a friend. The professional patients provided detailed and specific feedback on all aspects of service provision. This information was highly valued by service providers who reported few objections from staff to the visits. A small number of examples of very poor care were documented.Conclusions Professional patients are a useful tool for sexual health service evaluation. They provide high quality feedback because they are both ÔexpertsÕ on sexual health service provision and users of sexual health services. This method of evaluation raises ethical issues about the acceptability of deception as part of the evaluation process, the right of staff to anonymity and to refuse to be visited. Professional patient programmes provide an opportunity for regular cycles of user feedback to monitor quality improvement.

Context Key message pointsq Adults have negative attitudes to the sexual behaviour of young people in their community and suboptimal information on local sexual health services.q Adults see themselves as important providers of sexual health information to young people.q Adults are therefore a potential target for sexual health service outreach programmes that aim to encourage service access by young people.

Objective: To transform data from a research setting into a format that could be used to support strategies encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and service planning within local government. Methods: Details of the health status and lifestyle behaviours of the Geelong, Victoria, population were generated independently by the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS), a prospective population‐based cohort study. Recent GOS follow‐up phases provided evidence about patterns of unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking and harmful alcohol use. These factors are well‐recognised modifiable risk factors for chronic disease; the dataset was complemented with prevalence estimates for musculoskeletal disease, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and cancer. Results: Data were provided to Healthy Together Geelong in aggregate form according to age, sex and suburb. A population statistics company used the data to project health outcomes by suburb for use by local council. This data exchange served as a conduit between epidemiological research and policy development. Conclusion and implications: Regional policy makers were informed by local evidence, rather than national or state health survey, thereby optimising potential intervention strategies.