Contraception and Sexual Health Outreach Services

 

The Palatine Contraception and Sexual Health Outreach Team is a multi-disciplinary citywide team based at The Hathersage Centre. The team offers a range of clinical and non-clinical services for people under 25 years old, both male and female.

 

 

Background:

Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) should equip young children and young people with the information, skills and values to have a safe, fulfilling and enjoyable relationships and to take responsibility for their sexual health and wellbeing. It should provide young people with quality information about sex and relationships, and support them to develop the skills, confidence and appropriate values framework to make positive choices. SRE can also be used to communicate the benefits of delaying early sexual intercourse, while ensuring that young people develop the skills and knowledge to prevent STI’s and unintended pregnancy when sexual activity does begin.

It is widely accepted that effective SRE increases the likelihood that young people will use contraception, enables them to mature, and give them the confidence, knowledge and skills to make informed, healthy choices.

 

 

 

Non-Clinical Education Services

Our experienced Education Outreach workers provide information, education and training around contraception and sexual health for young people and professionals working with young people. The team has a specific remit around hard to reach and vulnerable young people (under 25’s) e.g. young people at risk of social exclusion or not in mainstream education or employment.

They can deliver group work/ informal education sessions and workshops to young people in a variety of settings. These are interactive and fun and can cover a wide range of areas including contraception; sexually transmitted infections, self-esteem and healthy relationships, and all sessions are developed to meet the needs of the specific group being worked with.

Examples of work include:

• Group work on specific subjects
• Delivering SRE curriculum
• Workshops on sexual health to update staff knowledge
• One to One sessions with particularly vulnerable young people
• Testing for Chlamydia/Gonorrhoea
• Events/ Health stalls
• Condom distribution
• Development of Sex and Relationship Education curriculum

 

 

 

Feedback from young people following education sessions:

“I really enjoyed the session, it was fun and not embarrassing and gave us the chance to talk about issues that we wouldn’t normally get the chance too”

 

“I found the session really helpful and learnt lots of new information. Thank-you”

 

“I had a really good time in the group work and it was very informative”

 

“Delivered in a good, relaxed way”

 

“Informative and interactive, better than it was at school”

 

Feedback from Professionals

“The feedback received from the young people and staff was very positive with all commenting that the session was pitched at the right level”

 

“The sessions were delivered extremely well and confidently and they were perfect for our students who can be very challenging, and don’t usually engage very well. They really enjoyed it”

 

“Thank you for providing such valuable information to our young people”

 

“Thanks once again for visiting our project to deliver a sexual health workshop, given our location and statistical information your input was invaluable”

 

 

Clinical Services

Our specialised Outreach nurses can be referred to by any professional in Manchester. The allocated Outreach nurse will then arrange to visit the young person to discuss their individual needs. This visit can take place wherever they feel comfortable, including non-NHS premises e.g. at home, supported accommodation or alternative education projects.

During the initial or future visits, the nurses can provide:

• Careful counselling to decide upon the best method of contraception. Time and support is given to encourage uptake and in most cases, contraception can be started immediately (i.e. Contraceptive Pill/Injection)
• Fitting of Implants in clinical settings
• Appointments for long-term methods (Implant/IUD etc) can be fast tracked
• Pregnancy testing
• Emergency Contraception
• Referral for termination services
• Testing for all sexually transmitted infections
• Treatment for uncomplicated sexually transmitted infections
• Home visits may be made outside of ‘normal’ working hours where possible

 

 

 

If you are interested in referring a group or young person to our Outreach services

Please contact our main reception on

0161 701 155 

 and ask for Outreach