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Behavioral Counseling Related to Sexual Health

Clinical Service Goal

Behavioral counseling is recommended for all sexually active adolescents because it’s been shown to increase safer sex behaviors and reduce the likelihood that sexually active adolescents acquire sexually transmitted infections.

Key Foundations
Strategies related to assessment, policy, and environment
Equipping Teams
Strategies that build clinic staff capacity
Service Delivery
Strategies to strengthen processes, procedures, and systems involved in delivering clinical services
Engaging Adolescent Patients and Families
Strategies to educate and build productive partnerships with adolescents and their families+ (These strategies recognize the important role that parents can play in relation to ASRH, even while protecting confidentiality remains a cornerstone of adolescent care).

Strategies

Key Foundations
Equipping Teams

Tools & Resources

click to follow link to the tool
Adolescent-Focused Motivational Interviewing
School-Based Health Alliance

Recorded presentation that provides training on how to conduct motivational interviewing with adolescents

click to follow link to the tool
Motivational Interviewing Training for Empowering Youth (MITEY) towards Change
Possibilities for Change

Recorded presentation that demonstrates the use of motivational interviewing strategies to provide youth risk coaching

click to follow link to the tool
5-Step Counseling Model for Addressing the SRH Needs of Young Men
Cicatelli Associates Inc. (CAI)

Patient-centered approach for addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of young men (Addresses male ASRH)

click to follow link to the tool
Key Sexual and Reproductive Health Messages for Young Men
Cicatelli Associates Inc. (CAI)

Key messages that care team members can use when talking to young men about sexual and reproductive health (Addresses male ASRH)

click to follow link to the tool
Example Integration Statements for Conversations with Young Men
Cicatelli Associates Inc. (CAI)

Tool for integrating statements about fatherhood and sexual and reproductive health into conversations with young men (Addresses male ASRH)

Service Delivery

Implementation Tips

  • Use staffing strategies such as integrating health educators or community health workers as part of the care team to allow more time for counseling and education during a clinical visit
Engaging Adolescent Patients and Families

Implementation tips

  • Help the adolescent consider who they can rely on to help them with their health decisions such as a parent or other trusted adult
  • Provide handouts for parents in the waiting room
  • Provide a section on the health center website that includes resources for parents

Tools & Resources

click to follow link to the tool
Talking with Your Teens About Sex
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Fact sheet for parents with tips and actions to talk with their adolescents about sex and healthy relationships

click to follow link to the tool
Teen Dating and Sex
American Academy of Pediatrics

Articles for parents about various sexual health topics; also available in Spanish (Addresses LGBTQIA+ youth)

click to follow link to the tool
AMAZE
Advocates for Youth (Managing Partner)

Animated videos and other educational resources to build the skills of parents to communicate with youth ages 10-14 about sex and sexuality (Addresses LGBTQIA+ youth)

click to follow link to the tool
Parents’ Influence on the Health of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Teens
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Fact sheet for parents with tips and actions to promote positive health outcomes for their lesbian, gay, or bisexual adolescents (Addresses LGBTQIA+ youth)

Download Q4T Change Package (PDF)