One size fits all? Promoting condom use for sexually transmitted infection prevention among heterosexual young adults

Abstract

The aims of this exploratory qualitative study were to increase our understanding of heterosexual young adults' knowledge and beliefs about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) other than HIV, to explore their beliefs about the factors that influence condom use for STI prevention, and to explore their ideas about how best to promote condom use for STI prevention. Data came from a qualitative study that used 11 group discussions with 53 heterosexual men and women aged 18-25. Respondents thought that STI infection and unplanned pregnancy were equally likely, but were less concerned about STIs than unplanned pregnancy. Respondents gave several reasons for their low levels of concern about STIs. They also suggested several means to promote condom use for STI prevention. They supported multi-faceted condom promotion campaigns, using multiple styles of communication and a variety of media. The range of suggestions given by participants suggests that rather than employing a 'one size fits all' strategy, a variety of different approaches are needed to promote condom use for STI prevention.

Condom use behaviours among 18–24 year-old urban African American males: a qualitative study

“…Despite those limitations and the similarities of our findings to other published reports (e.g. See de Visser, 2005;DeLamater et al, 2000;DiClemente et al, 1996), the qualitative study was relatively conducted within the appropriate framework of qualitative research methods. Accordingly, further studies may still be warranted to substantiate our findings.…”

“…Nevertheless, simply providing condom-related knowledge may be inadequate because evidence clearly points to a lack of an association between condom knowledge and effective condom use skills (e.g. See de Visser, 2005;Kirby, 2001).…”

“…See Stanton et al, 1996;Jemmott et al, 1998;St. Lawrence et al, 1995;Kirby, 2001;de Visser, 2005;DeLamater et al, 2000;Diclemente et al, 1996;Kalichman & Cherry, 1999) that particularly builds upon the unique psychosocial and environmental contexts of this population.…”

“…Same-sex focus groups regarding risky sexual behaviours have been successfully conducted, even among African American males, to inform programme development (Seal et al, 2003;de Visser, 2005). Based on discussions with youth and adult key informants, we developed a moderator guide to explore the determinants of risky sexual practices for this population.…”

Looked after young people: Reducing health inequalities through an evidence- and theory-informed intervention

“…Similarly, there are huge considerable challenges in training professionals to enable them to that may work with patients to deliver effective behaviour change interventions, such as motivational interviewing, to patients (Söderlund et al, 2008). Typically, health services offer a one-size-fits-all approach to health behaviour change, which has received some criticism (De Visser, 2005;Wise, 2009). LAYP Young people in care upon receiving the same health education as other young people, may be less likely to have the motivation and skills to adopt healthy behaviours.…”