A systematic review of strategies to optimize the professional development of providers disseminating sexual health content to prevent adolescent pregnancy

Abstract

<p>Problem statement: Adolescent pregnancy is at an extreme rate for minority adolescents of Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Black ethnicity/race, who reside within low socioeconomic geographic areas. Aim: Addressing adolescent sexual health education at the grass roots will further healthcare providers&rsquo; awareness and engagement in preventing unplanned pregnancy among adolescents. This will further standardize the knowledge among the youth while increasing positive decision-making. Background: CDC (2017) has prioritized adolescent pregnancy due to the nearly 230,000 unintended pregnancies documented in 2015, yet its overall 8% decrease results from comprehensive sex education and promotion of contraceptives which opposes current abstinence-only curriculum within various school districts. This creates an unprecedented responsibility for healthcare providers to properly and adequately disseminate comprehensive sex education to youth within the allocated time of the visit, especially within school health clinics. Framework: This literature review consisted of two frameworks, The Social Cognitive Theory and Lean Transformation, as baseline data to help with the analysis of evidence. Method: The method consisted of a search identifying scholarly peer reviewed articles from 2013 to present within 4 databases: 1) CINAHL; 2) CINAHL Plus with Full Text; 3) Education source; and 4) PubMed, using keywords: &ldquo;adolescent&rdquo;; &ldquo;pregnancy&rdquo;; &ldquo;prevention&rdquo;; &ldquo;USA&rdquo;; &ldquo;continuing education&rdquo;; and &ldquo;social cognitive theory.&rdquo; 37 articles among 91 non-duplicate articles were retrieved using PRISMA (2015). A systematic review was conducted to categorize each article based on its relevance or potential of ways to converse with adolescents regarding sex education. Results: 25 articles were selected, of which 18 were categorized as relevant articles and 7 were categorized as potential background information. Findings suggest reduction in negative sexual health outcomes through systematic education on overall wellness promotion by healthcare professionals, educators, and family. Conclusion: This review suggests the need to develop an evidence-based continuing education for healthcare professionals and educators to address sexual health content effectively among adolescents and young adults. The practice should expend on the abstinence-only curriculum furthering the deliverables of the school health provider in engaging the youth on sex education.</p>