Contextual and behavioural risk factors for sexually transmissible infections in young Aboriginal people in central Australia: a qualitative study

Sexual Health ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 198
Author(s):  
Colin Watson ◽  
Kirsty Smith ◽  
Ahmed Latif ◽  
Wendy Armstrong ◽  
James Ward ◽  
...  

Rates of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) in remote central Australian Aboriginal communities have been persistently high for over two decades, yet risk factors for STIs in these communities are not well understood. This qualitative study explored behavioural and contextual risk factors for STIs in young Aboriginal people in central Australia. The study identified that casual relationships between young people are common and that there is a strong association between travel, alcohol and casual sex, highlighting the ongoing need for comprehensive sexual health programs that are tailored to the specific social, cultural and interpersonal circumstances of young people in this setting.


Sexual Health ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Williams ◽  
Chris Lawrence ◽  
Edward Wilkes ◽  
Maurice Shipp ◽  
Barbara Henry ◽  
...  

Background This study aimed to describe sexual health behaviour, alcohol and other drug use, and health service use among young Noongar people in the south-west of Western Australia. Method: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken among a sample of 244 Noongar people aged 16−30 years. Results: The sample was more disadvantaged than the wider Noongar population. Sexual activity was initiated at a young age, 18% had two or more casual sex partners in the previous 12 months, with men more likely to have done so than women (23% vs 14%). Condoms were always or often carried by 57% of men and 37% of women, and 36% of men and 23% of women reported condom use at last sex with a casual partner. Lifetime sexually transmissible infection diagnosis was 14%. Forty percent currently smoked tobacco and 25% reported risky alcohol consumption on a weekly and 7% on an almost daily basis. Cannabis was used by 37%, 12% used drugs in addition to cannabis and 11% reported recently injecting drugs. In the previous 12 months, 66% had a health check and 31% were tested for HIV or sexually transmissible infections. Additionally, 25% sought advice or assistance for mental health or alcohol and other drug issues. Discussion: Although some respondents engaged in risky sexual behaviour, alcohol and other drug use or both, most did not. Particularly encouraging was the engagement of respondents with the health care system, especially among those engaging in risky behaviours. The results confound negative stereotypes of Aboriginal people and demonstrate a level of resilience among respondents.



Sexual Health ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 547
Author(s):  
Roanna Lobo ◽  
Belinda D'Costa ◽  
Linda Forbes ◽  
James Ward

Background:Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote and very remote communities in Australia experience high rates of sexually transmissible infections (STIs), 4- to 29-fold the rates reported for non-Aboriginal people living in remote areas. Young people aged 16–29 years are particularly vulnerable to STIs. The Young Deadly Free (YDF) sexual health youth peer education program was implemented in 15 remote or very remote communities in four Australian jurisdictions in an effort to address endemic STI rates in these communities. The present study sought to evaluate the effect of YDF for Aboriginal young people. Methods: Young people (n = 128) participated in youth peer educator training to deliver peer education sessions on sexual health topics to other young people in their communities. Pre and post surveys were used to examine changes in STI knowledge, attitudes and behavioural intentions of the young people attending the peer education sessions. GHRANITE software extracted deidentified STI testing data for young people attending 13 community health services. Results: Young people (n = 426) attended peer education sessions delivered by trained youth peer educators. Pre and post surveys were completed by 174 and 172 young people respectively (median age 20 years). Gains were reported in STI knowledge, intentions to test (χ2 = 10.58, d.f. = 4, n = 142, P Conclusions: Peer education can enhance the sexual health literacy of young Aboriginal people residing in remote communities. The extent to which knowledge gains result in behaviours that prevent STI transmission requires further evaluation. Normalising STI testing among Aboriginal young people would help reduce feelings of shame.



Sexual Health ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 397
Author(s):  
Roanna Lobo ◽  
Belinda D'Costa ◽  
Linda Forbes ◽  
James Ward

Background Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote and very remote communities in Australia experience high rates of sexually transmissible infections (STIs), 4- to 29-fold the rates reported for non-Aboriginal people living in remote areas. Young people aged 16–29 years are particularly vulnerable to STIs. The Young Deadly Free (YDF) sexual health youth peer education program was implemented in 15 remote or very remote communities in four Australian jurisdictions in an effort to address endemic STI rates in these communities. The present study sought to evaluate the effect of YDF for Aboriginal young people. Methods: Young people (n = 128) participated in youth peer educator training to deliver peer education sessions on sexual health topics to other young people in their communities. Pre and post surveys were used to examine changes in STI knowledge, attitudes and behavioural intentions of the young people attending the peer education sessions. GHRANITE software extracted deidentified STI testing data for young people attending 13 community health services. Results: Young people (n = 426) attended peer education sessions delivered by trained youth peer educators. Pre and post surveys were completed by 174 and 172 young people respectively (median age 20 years). Gains were reported in STI knowledge, intentions to test (χ2 = 10.58, d.f. = 4, n = 142, P < 0.001) and number of STI tests (50.8% increase from baseline). Feelings of shame associated with STI testing remained high (39.5% post survey). Conclusions: Peer education can enhance the sexual health literacy of young Aboriginal people residing in remote communities. The extent to which knowledge gains result in behaviours that prevent STI transmission requires further evaluation. Normalising STI testing among Aboriginal young people would help reduce feelings of shame.





Sexual Health ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Bryant ◽  
James Ward ◽  
Heather Worth ◽  
Peter Hull ◽  
Sarina Solar ◽  
...  

Background This paper examines condom use in a sample of Aboriginal young people in New South Wales (NSW) aged 16–30 years. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected using hand-held computer devices from 293 Aboriginal people attending two Aboriginal events in NSW. Results: Almost two-thirds of respondents reported having had a casual sex partner in the previous 6 months. Of these, 39.2% reported always using a condom with casual partners. Having always used a condom with casual partners varied among respondents, and was more likely among younger respondents (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.7, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.2–6.1) and less likely among those who used illicit drugs (AOR: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.1–0.7). Conclusions: In comparison to published studies of other Australians, casual sex appears to be more common among this sample of Aboriginal young people; however, the proportion who report having always used condoms with casual partners is very similar. This suggests that although casual sex is more common, Aboriginal young people do not engage in risky behaviour any more often than other young Australians. Further work should be conducted with those who do not always use condoms, such as those who are older and who use illicit drugs, particularly with regards to how abstinence from drug use supports protective behaviours such as condom use among this population of Aboriginal young people.



2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima

There is growing interest in the development of measures and indexes of youth wellbeing. However, there has been a limited discussion on indicators to measure and select them. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative study on the selection of indicators to measure the wellbeing of young people in South Africa, and reflects on the relevance of the content of their values in choosing indicators for measuring their wellbeing. The data used in this analysis is based on telephone (9) and email (6) interviews conducted with 15 young people (male=5, female=10) aged 22 to 32 from five South African cities during July 2010. In the interviews, participants were asked to identify five issues they considered important to their lives, after which they were asked to rank them in order of importance. The issues indicated by the participants are described and discussed in six dimensions: economic, relationships, spiritual and health, education, time use and material. The indicators developed from this study are discussed in terms of their relevance for use in a measure of youth wellbeing in South Africa.





Author(s):  
Stephane Shepherd ◽  
Aisling Bailey ◽  
Godwin Masuka

African-Australian young people are over-represented in custody in the state of Victoria. It has been recognized in recent government and stakeholder strategic plans that African-Australian community service providers are well placed to help address the increasing complex needs of at-risk African-Australian youth. However little is known about the capacities of such providers to effectively contend with this growing social concern. In response, this study aimed to explore the perspectives and operational (service delivery and governance) experiences of African-Australian community organizations which provide services to at-risk young people in Victoria. Through a series of in-depth interviews with the leadership of eight key African-Australian service providers, we aimed to identify their perceived strengths, obstacles faced and proposed strategies to realize key objectives. Perspectives on key risk factors for young African-Australian justice system contact were also gathered. Several themes were extracted from the interviews, specifically (i) Risk factors for African-Australian youth justice-involvement (school disengagement, peer delinquency, family breakdown, intergenerational discord, perceived social rejection), (ii) The limitations of mainstream institutions to reduce African-Australian youth justice-involvement (too compliance focused, inflexible, business rather than human-centered, disconnected from communities and families), (iii) The advantages of African-Australian community service providers when working with African-Australian youth (community credibility, client trust, flexibility, culturally responsive), (iv) The challenges faced by African-Australian service providers (lack of funding/resources, professional staff shortages, infrastructural/governance limitations), and (v) “What works” in service provision for at-risk African-Australians (client involvement in program design, African staff representation, extensive structured programming matched with client aspirations, prioritizing relationship building, persistent outreach, mental health and legal literacy for clients and families). Implications for service delivery and social policy are discussed within.



2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeniyi Francis Fagbamigbe ◽  
A. Olalekan Uthman ◽  
Latifat Ibisomi

AbstractSeveral studies have documented the burden and risk factors associated with diarrhoea in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). To the best of our knowledge, the contextual and compositional factors associated with diarrhoea across LMIC were poorly operationalized, explored and understood in these studies. We investigated multilevel risk factors associated with diarrhoea among under-five children in LMIC. We analysed diarrhoea-related information of 796,150 under-five children (Level 1) nested within 63,378 neighbourhoods (Level 2) from 57 LMIC (Level 3) using the latest data from cross-sectional and nationally representative Demographic Health Survey conducted between 2010 and 2018. We used multivariable hierarchical Bayesian logistic regression models for data analysis. The overall prevalence of diarrhoea was 14.4% (95% confidence interval 14.2–14.7) ranging from 3.8% in Armenia to 31.4% in Yemen. The odds of diarrhoea was highest among male children, infants, having small birth weights, households in poorer wealth quintiles, children whose mothers had only primary education, and children who had no access to media. Children from neighbourhoods with high illiteracy [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.07, 95% credible interval (CrI) 1.04–1.10] rates were more likely to have diarrhoea. At the country-level, the odds of diarrhoea nearly doubled (aOR = 1.88, 95% CrI 1.23–2.83) and tripled (aOR = 2.66, 95% CrI 1.65–3.89) among children from countries with middle and lowest human development index respectively. Diarrhoea remains a major health challenge among under-five children in most LMIC. We identified diverse individual-level, community-level and national-level factors associated with the development of diarrhoea among under-five children in these countries and disentangled the associated contextual risk factors from the compositional risk factors. Our findings underscore the need to revitalize existing policies on child and maternal health and implement interventions to prevent diarrhoea at the individual-, community- and societal-levels. The current study showed how the drive to the attainment of SDGs 1, 2, 4, 6 and 10 will enhance the attainment of SDG 3.



2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052098550
Author(s):  
Mengtong Chen ◽  
Ko Ling Chan

The prevalence and patterns of elder abuse and neglect in China have been understudied. The objectives of this study were to examine the chronicity and prevalence of different patterns of elder abuse, and the influence of individual and contextual risk factors. We used data from a sample of 7,466 adults randomly recruited from six regions in China. The participants responded to a questionnaire about their demographic characteristics, childhood abuse experiences, and instances of abuse and neglect against their elderly parents. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association of elder abuse and neglect with individual and contextual factors. The results showed that one in 10 participants reported that their elderly parents had experienced abuse or neglect in the past year. The elder victims were reported to have suffered different types of abuse and neglect on multiple occasions, ranging from 3.6 to 11.82 times on average. More than 5% of participants reported that their elderly parents had suffered two or more types of abuse and neglect in the past year, accounting for 40% of the elderly victims. The co-occurrence of elder abuse within elderly couples was also high. Reports of abuse and neglect of elderly parents were related to low socioeconomic status, living in rural areas, and the experience of childhood abuse of the participants. This study supports the model of intergenerational transmission of violence in the Chinese population. The high prevalence, chronicity, and co-occurrence of elder abuse and neglect underline the importance of screening for risk factors, and have implications for preventive practice and policy.



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