“Do you want an STI screen? We’ll do it now” – a qualitative analysis of promoting sexual health at Aboriginal Medical Services 


Alec Hope 

Background

Aboriginal Australian people suffer poorer sexual health compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Sexual health interventions such as prevention, targeted screening and treatment are necessary to help reduce this gap. This presentation aims to elucidate potential ways to improve sexual health.  

Methods

Eighteen semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers, researchers and health promotors were qualitatively analysed sexual health promotion.   

Results

Respondents noted sexual health services must be adaptable to the demands of the community, reflecting the specific risk profiles of the population, creation of community-appropriate health promotion materials and the provision of high quality sexual health assessment and treatment.

Conclusions

Sexual health outcomes for Aboriginal communities demand improved prevention, investigation and management approaches. These approaches will be driven by a combination of specialist sexual health and Aboriginal Medical Services.