HEALTH WORKER’S KNOWLEDGE ON ADOLESCENT HEALTH, SERVICES PROVISION AND CHALLENGES IN KUMBUNGU DISTRICT, GHANA: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Adolescents are persons between 10 and 19 years of age. In Ghana, about 23% of the total population are adolescents. They often experience a higher risk of sexual and reproductive health problems. Health worker’s knowledge on adolescent health, services provision and challenges are critical. Thus, this study explored health worker’s knowledge on adolescent health, services provision and challenges in Kumbungu District, Ghana. A purposive sampling technique was used to select eight key informants from five sub-districts. The sample was determined based on pragmatic considerations such as limited availability of participants. The interviews were transcribed and data analyzed using thematic analysis. The study was conducted between June and September 2017. All participants had heard of adolescent health. They said adolescent health covers teenagers between 10 and 19 years of age, their sexual lifestyle, teenage pregnancy, family planning, sexually transmitted infections, counselling services, personal hygiene and general curative care. The participants rated their knowledge as low due to inadequate training. The health services include family planning, counselling, nutrition education, menstrual hygiene and curative care due to the type of health facility, capacity, resources and demands of the adolescents. Challenges health workers face include low knowledge, inadequate staff, lack of separate rooms to ensure privacy/confidentially, language barriers and inadequate logistics. In conclusion, the participant’s knowledge on adolescent health was low, while some challenges were experienced. Thus, health workers should be trained on adolescent health in the district and there is the need for more resources to improve availability and variety of services