Understanding sexual and reproductive healthcare in general practice.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determining the barriers and facilitators for general practice to address inequalities in sexual and reproductive healthcare access and uptake from the patient and provider perspective.
IRAS ID
220726
Contact name
Rebecca Mawson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sheffield
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 2 days
Research summary
Sexual and reproductive health is a term used to describe a range of different health needs which we all experience throughout our lifetime, some more than others.
The UK has had problems in the past with high teen pregnancies, unwanted pregnancy and abortions. There has been investment to reduce these issues but still more work must be done to help give women a choice to prevent unwanted pregnancy.
There has also been an increase in the number of people affected by sexually transmitted infections. These infections often give no symptoms and therefore we have to search for them in the general population.
Sexuality (what gender you are attracted to) and gender identity (whether you feel male or female regardless of your physical form) have become more talked about and hopefully less stigmatised. Previously health issues affecting these groups of people were managed in specialist clinics but more people are accessing health through their family doctor.
Traditionally these services have been provided in hospital run clinics (known as Sexual health clinics or GUM) but we are looking at ways to provide care in general practice. We want to understand this better and then make changes which might make it easier to get the services needed. It is clear that people living in poorer areas find it more difficult to get the care they need, leading to higher teen pregnancies, sexual infections and abortions.
In this study we will interview GPs and practice nurses to understand what issues they might feel around providing this type of healthcare in general practices especially talking about difficult to reach groups. We will then interview members of the public to understand what they think are the main issues, to help this discussion we will use stories or cases which will highlight how different people might feel about accessing their general practice. This will hopefully allow us a better understanding of issues around this sensitive subject and help people to gain better care.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0171
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion