A New Score Card For Progress In Sexual Health

Oleh Admin 13 Mar, 2023 Posting Komentar

A new study by researchers at Melman Public Health University in California suggests that a positive, holistic, sex-advocacy approach to health promotion in terms of disease risk is key to improved health outcomes. The study, which provides metrics to assess overall improvement in sexual health outcomes, is published publicly in the journal Frontiers in Public Health .

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic due to delays in treatment and follow-up. Although STDs are the most commonly reported infectious diseases in the United States, cancer of the reproductive tract affects tens of thousands of people each year, and half of all pregnancies are unplanned. Adverse health outcomes are costly, with direct medical costs of STDs estimated at $16 billion a year and unplanned pregnancies at $9 billion a year.

In the United States, public health researchers once focused on sexual health issues. However, many of these outcomes occur in the same people and populations, leading to syndemics (overlapping epidemics of two or more health-related diseases) caused by social factors such as poverty, marginalization and structural violence. However, in recent years, other countries have moved towards a more holistic approach to assessing sexual health outcomes, such as the World Health Organization's definition of sexual health, which researchers use as the basis for their research.

The research team worked with experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify key indicators of sexual health, measure long-term outcomes, focus on the general population, and align with government goals. Indicators were selected that meet one of four objectives: 1) increasing the level of knowledge, understanding and respect for sexual health; 2) promote healthy, responsible and respectful sexual behavior and relationships; 3) Increasing the use of quality education, clinics and other preventive services to improve sexual health. and 4) reducing negative health outcomes.

The study identified 23 indicators related to these goals. They write that their efforts have been more successful in identifying indicators for routine public health indicators, such as clinical care and adverse outcomes (eg, new HIV infections among adolescents and adults), as well as health attitudes and attitudes. They seem to be very happily married.)

The researchers planned to publish these key indicators of sexual health as a public and frequently updated index. These sexual health indicators can be used to monitor and guide further sexual health research, programs and policies in the coming years. It is hoped that over time the proposed indicators will be revised and improved to ensure their usefulness.

“While there have been calls for a more positive and holistic approach to sexual health, in this article those calls go further and downplay the importance of measurement,” said Jesse W. Ford, Ph.D., professor of social science at Columbia University. Postman School. “Imagine if America had a dashboard where we could easily keep track of our sexual health. It helps us think about where to celebrate our victories and make changes and invest resources. We view this document as a starting point for building better systems and monitoring in the future.

A study by Megan B. Ivankovic and Eli Coleman of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health at the Twin Cities University of Minnesota.

Megan B. Ivankovic worked for the Public Information Bureau, but the other authors of the study declared no conflicts of interest.

Notebook

Public health restrictions

Baca Juga

Research methods

Systematic review

Research topic

People

Essay topic

Sexual Health Indicators in the United States: Measuring Progress and Documenting Public Health Needs

article publication date

January 26, 2023

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Megan B. Ivankovic worked for the Public Information Bureau, but the other authors of the study declared no conflicts of interest.

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