Talking SHARP

Brook is currently funded by the Camelot Foundation (www.camelotfoundation.org.uk)to run a project called SHARP (sexual health advocacy and research project). The project aims to train and support young people to be researchers and advocated on sexual health issues that matter to them. After a residential event a group of young people have begun exploring issues with their peers. Their first piece of research focuses on sexual health services. Yet again their findings confirm that they want any services to be close enough to get to, open when they want them to be, and friendly towards young people. These don't seem like big asks, however if young people still feel it necessary to tell us this is what they want, then clearly we haven't got there yet.

So let us imagine as sexual health service providers we get this universal access right. Young people know where we are, trust us to be nice to them and can get to us easily. As we work to get this bit right, we also need to find creative ways of motivating young people to think about contraception before they have sex. Last week one young man involved inour work told us that it was the chance to get tested for STIs and free condoms that motivating him and it struck me we often focus on finding out about those who don't access services and that we need to invest a bit more resource in finding out more about the stories of those young people who do access services and do use contraception successfully, so we can learn about the motivators and barriers, and develop our strategies and approaches accordingly.

A bit of respect!

I was leaving a Brook Centre yesterday just as it was opening. About 12 young people had settled in the waiting room within the first few minutes. As always I listened and watched for the intimidating young people that the papers write about – I couldn’t see them. I looked for the noisy and uncontrollable youth that people talk about on the bus – I couldn’t see them, and I looked for the sexually irresponsible young men that dads warn their daughters about – there were none to be seen.

The young women and young men sitting in this waiting room were waiting patiently for their turn, talking to each other and supporting one another. They were excited, nervous, worried, brave, responsible and respectful. Are they unusual? Not in my experience. As I left the Centre I said to the receptionist that I would love to bring those adults who fear or condemn young people to observe this waiting room. Her response: ‘as long as you are good to young people, they are good to you. The trouble is, if you bring someone who doesn’t like young people into the room, they smell it and the mood changes, so it wouldn’t really work’.

Many of our European neighbours have very different attitudes to young people. They want young people to be happy, to be safe and responsible in their intimate relationships. We rightfully continue to look for evidence of the effectiveness of our work but how do you measure the impact of care, respect and attention on young people’s sexual health? A randomised control trial won’t do it – but if you want to visit a Brook waiting room you will see that it works. As Dona Milne said in her reply to an earlier blog yes we need to involve young people and listen to their views, but they don’t really ask for much, a bit of respect, a friendly service and people who like them. I agree with her and in my experience when you really enjoy young people’s company you keep on learning, you keep on living and you keep on laughing. A win-win situation.