A social marketing perspective of young people’s sexual health

Abstract

BACGROUND:Unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among young people are priority public health issues in the UK. Social marketing is the preferred Government approach to intervention despite limited evidence on efficacy. There is need to understand its applicability and effectiveness in addressing the specified sexual health issues.METHODS:Three studies were carried out, of which the first was a systematic review of 12 studies assessing the effectiveness of social marketing in reducing unintended teenage pregnancies. The second and third were consumer research applications examining factors associated with Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARC) use and Chlamydia screening respectively. The second study involved analysing five ONS Contraception survey datasets while the third involved analysing Havering PCT Chlamydia screening records and qualitative data from 28 participants. Data were analysed using Stata.10 and Framework statistical packages and maps drawn using MapInfo.10.5. RESULTS:The systematic review showed that nine studies achieved significant effects on at least one of the specified outcomes (reduced pregnancy rates and related behaviour changes). The second study showed that the NICE guidelines published in 2005 successfully addressed the disparity in LARC uptake previously experienced by women aged below 20. The third study identified females and non-white participants as more likely to take Chlamydia tests. Motivating factors for testing included convenient access to kits and fear of infertility, while barriers included ignorance and fear of results. CONCLUSIONS:Social marketing appears to be effective in reducing unintended teenage pregnancies but evidence is limited to particular outcomes and context. Consumer research provides vital intelligence about target populations necessary for designing effective interventions and addressing inequalities. However to assess its influence on outcomes, studies that feature all social marketing components are required. Overall there is need for more studies that specifically utilize social marketing principles to enable more robust evaluations.