Health educators’ perceptions of a sexual health intervention for homeless adolescents

Abstract

Objective-The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of health educators in providing a brief, street-based intervention to homeless adolescents.Method-Qualitative data were collected via e-mail from a purposive sample of 13 male and female health educators who provided the intervention and analyzed using manifest and latent content analysis techniques.Results-Five categories with two or more subcategories were identified in the data and included how the educators' views changed, how they felt homeless youth were similar to and different from other adolescents, positive aspects and challenges of providing the intervention, and suggestions for future interventionists working with this population.Conclusions-The health educators' practice was strengthened over the course of providing the intervention through their positive experiences, changes in their perceptions, some of which were biased, and ability to confront the challenges that accompany working with this vulnerable population.Practice Implications-Health educators who work with this population should learn about the culture of homeless youth and characteristics of homeless youth that may influence their participation in a sexual health intervention. Moreover, they need to be non-judgmental, practice the intervention, be aware of their biases, and remain flexible.

Physiotherapy students’ experiences in implementing a health education programme

“…Boucaut (1998) aims of health promotion as indicated by the Ottawa Charter. This is similar to the study by Rew, Rochlen and Murphey (2008) that highlighted the personal development of the health educators as a positive result of implementing the health education programme. It is thus evident from the findings that as a learning opportunity the implementation of a health education programme can assist students in achieving the 4 main themes of learning but there is a need to provide more opportunities.…”

Drug use among street children and adolescents: what helps?

“…When it is connected to a social network of external resources, such as the community, school, health and other services, the unit is strengthened and the family is able to maintain its bonds even in the face of difficulties inherent to social exclusion. An important role of professionals involved with this population is therefore to understand and intervene with the family's social network to prevent migration to the streets 17,29 .…”

“…Certain studies demonstrate that these professionals work under difficult circumstances, including the daily intoxication of adolescents who engage in frequent and heavy drug use 29 .…”

Sharing qualitative research findings with participants: Study experiences of methodological and ethical dilemmas

“…[1,15]. The researchers then incorporates these reactions in the study findings [6,16,17]. Member-check is generally conducted at two stages of the study: first, when the participant is asked to review the interview transcription to confirm its accuracy before coding and analysis, e.g.…”

“…Of these, only six articles, dated from 2008 to 2009, reported using member-check as a means of achieving rigor, credibility or trustworthiness. They reported the process in varying detail (see Table 1 for a brief summary of these PEC articles) [17,[33][34][35][36][37].…”