Helen Roberts

‘People Make Assumptions About Our Communities’: Sexual Health Amongst Teenagers from Black and Minority Ethnic Backgrounds in East London

Objectives . (1) To explore sexual behaviour and relationships amongst Black and minority ethnic (BME) teenagers in East London. (2) To examine how these relationships are shaped by culture, gender, peer norms and religion. (3) To describe the implications for sexual health policy and practice in urban, multicultural areas. Design . This report draws primarily on the qualitative arm of a mixed methods study which collected data from 126 young people, aged 15–18, largely through focus groups in the London boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets. Results . Previous research has reported culture influencing the patterning of risk/protection amongst BME groups. Our data suggest that this is mediated by gender, religion and youth. Religion reportedly influenced young womens sexual behaviour in multiple ways. Young people described gendered norms in meeting and flirting with partners, and the role of mobile phones and peer pressure. Conclusion . Our paper suggests culture, gender, religion and youth influence BME teenagers in aspects of sexual relationships, and that these social markers may have different contextual meanings for individuals. The multiplicity of factors affecting attitudes/behaviour requires a range of contraceptive, counselling, screening and sex education services available for all teenagers, although delivery patterns may differ in response to differing needs.

Systematic reviews--do they 'work' in informing decision-making around health inequalities?

The question of ‘what works’ is a fundamental one not only for politicians and policy makers who need to devise or implement policies on everything from reducing juvenile crime to increasing the national wealth, but it is also fundamental for citizens on the receiving end of interventions. The observation that some things work better than others (and other things work not at all) is commonplace. So is scepticism among the public and professionals about grand claims for the effectiveness of policies, particularly given our understanding that modest interventions normally have modest effects. Whilst research can help in informing decisions about what works, conflicting research findings, and simple information overload often simply cloud the issue. Literature reviews may be designed to solve (or at least address) the problems of information management, but these reviews may themselves conflict. Take, for example, literature reviews of the effectiveness of mentoring in young people to reduce anti-social behaviour. The findings of reviews may conflict not just because of differences in inclusion criteria but because authors appraise and synthesize information on the outcomes differently (for example, not differentiating between more and less objective sources of outcome data, which vary in the extent to which they are prone to bias). Moreover, the outcomes themselves – stated satisfaction with the service, higher self-esteem, or a reduc

Prevention of suicide and suicidal behaviour in adolescents

The objectives of the intervention are: 1. To determine whether school, community, primary health-care or other institution-based interventions for the prevention of suicide in adolescents are effective in reducing suicide attempts, reducing symptoms of known risk factors for suicide or increasing the likelihood of identifying at-risk individuals 2. To identify possible adverse effects associated with interventions 3. To determine, if possible, which features of interventions are most successful, for example, where programmes include more than one of the components listed in the description of the intervention section above. Other features of interventions which could be explored include frequency, intensity, mode of delivery, characteristics of providers and setting 4. To highlight areas where further research is most needed

Disabled stretch limo

A few years ago, there was a campaign showing a car in a disability parking spot of a supermarket car park asking, “Is this the only time you put yourself in their place?” When …