Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs and Services for In-School Deaf Adolescents in Uganda School for the Deaf and Mulago School for the Deaf

Abstract

Sexual and reproductive health is a critical societal and personal concern; and this phenomenon strongly applies to the young population in the adolescent age bracket. Some of the common consequences of not managing adolescents sexual and reproductive health includes; early sexual encounters, teen age pregnancy, rape, defilement and others. Therefore, this study focused on SRH needs and services of in-school deaf adolescents. This study aimed at examining the various sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs and services offered to in-school deaf adolescents in two deaf schools in Uganda. The researcher used a cross-sectional research design deploying a mixed method approach in collecting data. The total sample size was 136, of which115 deaf adolescents were surveyed, and 7 key informants were interviewed (2 head teachers, senior women, matron each and 1 senior male teacher). The study finding revealed that majority of the study respondents identified life skills, provision of school health program and sensitive counseling sessions as their preferred SRH needs; language barrier was cited as the biggest challenge in accessing SRH services. Provision of life skills coupled with counselling sessions will play a major role in enhancing the deaf adolescent’s self-esteem and their ability to utilize SRH services. As such the researcher recommends the deaf adolescents be given life skills, government and school administrations to commit to communicating SRH issues in ways understandable by the deaf, and parents to get involved in supporting their deaf children to learn more about SRH. Key Words: Sexual reproductive health, deaf adolescents, health services