PLA Notes 37 February 2000 18 Evaluating sexual health services in the UK: adapting participatory appraisal tools with young people and service providers

Document begins: PLA Notes 37 February 2000 18 Evaluating sexual health services in the UK: adapting participatory appraisal tools with young people and service providers Martin Westerby and Tilly Sellers Having found out what young people thought Introduction was important for a sexual health service to work for them, the project offered In 1997 Trent Regional Executive of the UK participatory evaluation training to service National Health Service funded a project providers who wanted to work with young called `Evaluating Sexual Health Services: a people to evaluate their own services. Initially, some service providers were sceptical Community Approach'. This project was that a participatory approach would work. based in the South Humber Health Authority However, all hoped that by building a working area in Northern England. This is a largely rural area, but with two large towns, which has and trusting relationship with young people, a history of relatively high local rates of and by using indicators developed by them, teenage pregnancy and where sexually this type of evaluation would have a positive transmitted infections continue to be a real impact on their services. threat to young people's sexual health. The 20 service providers undertook training in project worked with ...