Assessment of Structural and Process Factors in Delivering Quality Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Ghana.

Introduction: Sexual and reproductive health services are often underserved to adolescents in many societies. For many of these sexually active adolescents, reproductive health services such as the provision of contraception and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, either are not available or are provided in a way that makes adolescents feel unwelcome and embarrassed. This study assessed the structural and process factors available in delivering quality adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) services in health facilities across three regions in Ghana.

Methods: A facility-based descriptive cross-sectional study assessed the structural and process factors available for delivering quality adolescent sexual reproductive health services in 158 selected health facilities across three regions (Oti, Eastern, and Volta) of Ghana. A simple random sampling by balloting was used to select the health facilities and a total of 158 adolescents who used ASRH services in the selected facilities were sampled for an existing interview. The Donabedian model of quality assessment was adopted and modified into an assessment tool and a questionnaire to assess the selected health facilities and respondents. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 was used to analyze the data collected and the findings presented in the tables.

Results: The study found some structural and process barriers that affected the delivery of quality ASRH services in Ghana. A proportion of 85 (53.50%) of the facilities assessed did not have separate spaces for delivering services for adolescents. All 158 health facilities had the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) covering contraceptive/family planning services for adolescents. Most (128, 81.01%) facilities had available educational materials on ASRH but were not made available for take home by adolescents. The findings indicated that most respondents did not require parental, spouse, or guardian consent before using ASRH services. The average waiting time for adolescents to be attended to by service providers was ≤30 minutes.

Conclusions: The study found some structural and process barriers that affected the delivery of quality ASRH services in Ghana. ASRH services, particularly contraceptive/family planning services, were well integrated into NHIS to improve access and utilization by adolescents.