TY - JOUR
T1 - Do Nonclinical Community-Based Youth-Serving Professionals Talk With Young Men About Sexual and Reproductive Health and Intend to Refer Them for Care?
AU - Marcell, Arik V.
AU - Gibbs, Susannah E.
AU - Howard, Shalynn R.
AU - Pilgrim, Nanlesta A.
AU - Jennings, Jacky M.
AU - Sanders, Renata
AU - Page, Kathleen R.
AU - Loosier, Penny S.
AU - Dittus, Patricia J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2017/7/1
Y1 - 2017/7/1
N2 - Young men (ages 15–24) may benefit from community-based connections to care since many have sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs and low care use. This study describes nonclinical community-based youth-serving professionals’ (YSPs) SRH knowledge, confidence, past behaviors, and future intentions to talk with young men about SRH and refer them to care, and examines factors associated with care referral intentions. YSPs (n = 158) from 22 settings in one mid-Atlantic city answered questions about the study’s goal, their demographics and work environment from August 2014 to December 2015. Poisson regression assessed factors associated with YSPs’ care referral intentions. On average, YSPs answered 58% of knowledge questions correctly, knew 5 of 8 SRH care dimensions of where to refer young men, and perceived being somewhat/very confident talking with young men about SRH (63%) and referring them to care (77%). During the past month, the majority (63%) talked with young men about SRH but only one-third made care referrals; the majority (66%) were somewhat/very likely to refer them to care in the next 3 months. Adjusted models indicated YSPs were more likely to refer young men if they had a very supportive work environment to talk about SRH (adjusted RR = 1.51, 95% CI [1.15, 1.98]), greater confidence in SRH care referral (1.28 [1.00, 1.62]), and greater SRH care referrals in the past month (1.16 [1.02, 1.33]). Nonclinical community-based YSPs have poor-to-moderate knowledge about young men’s SRH care, and less than one-third reported referrals in the past month. Findings have implications for educating YSPs about young men’s SRH care.
AB - Young men (ages 15–24) may benefit from community-based connections to care since many have sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs and low care use. This study describes nonclinical community-based youth-serving professionals’ (YSPs) SRH knowledge, confidence, past behaviors, and future intentions to talk with young men about SRH and refer them to care, and examines factors associated with care referral intentions. YSPs (n = 158) from 22 settings in one mid-Atlantic city answered questions about the study’s goal, their demographics and work environment from August 2014 to December 2015. Poisson regression assessed factors associated with YSPs’ care referral intentions. On average, YSPs answered 58% of knowledge questions correctly, knew 5 of 8 SRH care dimensions of where to refer young men, and perceived being somewhat/very confident talking with young men about SRH (63%) and referring them to care (77%). During the past month, the majority (63%) talked with young men about SRH but only one-third made care referrals; the majority (66%) were somewhat/very likely to refer them to care in the next 3 months. Adjusted models indicated YSPs were more likely to refer young men if they had a very supportive work environment to talk about SRH (adjusted RR = 1.51, 95% CI [1.15, 1.98]), greater confidence in SRH care referral (1.28 [1.00, 1.62]), and greater SRH care referrals in the past month (1.16 [1.02, 1.33]). Nonclinical community-based YSPs have poor-to-moderate knowledge about young men’s SRH care, and less than one-third reported referrals in the past month. Findings have implications for educating YSPs about young men’s SRH care.
KW - access to health care
KW - adolescents and young adults
KW - community organizations
KW - health education
KW - men’s health
KW - reproductive health
KW - sexual health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85021164806&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85021164806&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1557988317696640
DO - 10.1177/1557988317696640
M3 - Article
C2 - 28625115
AN - SCOPUS:85021164806
SN - 1557-9883
VL - 11
SP - 1046
EP - 1054
JO - American journal of men's health
JF - American journal of men's health
IS - 4
ER -