Evaluation across time: An overview of the findings relating to an education programme for sexual health promoters

Background Sexual health promotion has traditionally proven challenging for a number of reasons including traditional taboos around the subject area. Developing effective education programmes is therefore considered an... [ view full abstract ]

Background
Sexual health promotion has traditionally proven challenging for a number of reasons including traditional taboos around the subject area. Developing effective education programmes is therefore considered an important building block in advancing sexual health promotion as sexual health promoters need the requisite knowledge, skills and confidence to fulfil their role. The Foundation Programme for Sexual Health Promotion (FPSHP) was developed in 2009 by the HSE in response to the need to develop the sexual health promotion capacity of health, education and community workers. The programme consists of 10 days education spread over 4/5 months.

Aim
The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the FPSHP programme on participants’ knowledge, comfort, confidence and skills, using a purpose designed tool.

Methodology
A newly developed and validated survey tool called the Sexual Health Promotion Education Evaluation Tool (SH-PET) was administered at 3 time-points.
• Point 1 before the programme (n=61)
• Point 2 immediately post training (n=57)
• Point 3 six months after the programme was completed (n=39).
Ethical approval was gained from the Research Ethics Committees of the Faculty of Health Sciences in Trinity College Dublin.
Using SPSS, descriptive statistics and paired t tests were used to determine whether there were statistically significant differences across the 3 time points.

Findings
Results showed an increase in knowledge, comfort, skills and confidence in discussing and teaching on sexual health issues. These increases were still sustained after six months suggesting that the programme has long term benefits on practice. One of the biggest effects on practice was a reported increase in participants comfort and confidence in discussing sexual health with service users/ clients and a greater ability to communicate effectively on the topic.

Conclusion
The evaluation of the FPSHP programme clearly indicates a positive impact of the FPSHP on participants’ knowledge, comfort, skills and confidence and practice that are sustained over time.