A pioneering pilot project in Cork has cared for more than 2,000 young people in the south-west of the country since it began its free, confidential health service 12 months ago. Fiona Tyrrell reports
Ireland's first free and confidential health centre dedicated to teenagers and young adults celebrates its first birthday this month.
The Cork-based Youth Health Service (YHS) is a free, confidential health service for young people under 25 in Cork and Kerry. It is the first of its kind in this country and is being run as a national pilot programme.
The service has already reached more than 2,000 young people in the south-west of the country since it opened 12 months ago.
The YHS provides a range of health and support services including free pregnancy testing, crisis pregnancy counselling and sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening and treatment.
Other services include health promotion, smoking cessation support, nutrition and exercise guidance, youth welfare advice, drug and alcohol counselling and family planning services.
YHS is an initiative of the Health Service Executive Southern Area, in partnership with Ógra Chorcaí (a youth organisation) and Cork City Development Board, with funding from the Crisis Pregnancy Agency.
"The aim of YHS is to support young people under 25 who might ordinarily find it difficult to access certain health services," says Teresa McElhinney, senior health promotion officer (sexual health) with the HSE Southern Area.
Concern about the growing incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among young people in the past 10 years as well as the number of young women terminating pregnancies prompted a debate about the need for a dedicated youth health service, she explains.
YHS aims to reduce unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among young people under 25 years and to develop a holistic approach to their overall health.
STIs have been steadily on the increase in the Republic since 1994. The most recent statistics show that more than 11,000 people were diagnosed with an STI in 2003 - an increase of more than 6 per cent on the previous year. Between 2000 and 2003, 60 per cent of STIs occurred in 20-29 year-olds.
Meanwhile, in 2004 the number of young women aged under 25 who travelled to the UK to have their pregnancies terminated abroad was 2,761. The largest group of women travelling to the UK for an abortion, representing 1,963 women, were aged between 20 and 25.
"These statistics are quite worrying," says McElhinney.
An audit of the services available in the region found that while all the necessary services were there, none of them was specifically targeting young people, she adds.
Many young people think that getting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or falling pregnant "won't happen to me" or "I'm not at risk", co-ordinator of the YHS, Martin Grogan, says.
"A lot of what young people hear on the streets can be confusing and misleading for them," he says.
Results of a focus group study involving 50 people aged between 14 and 24 conducted in April 2004 indicated what young people want from a dedicated health service.
"Young people want guaranteed confidentiality, a holistic health approach - not simply concerned with sex, but dealing with other issues that are important to them. They want a well-publicised service, with welcoming, non-judgmental staff, a drop-in system that is easily accessed, relaxed and free from peer and parental disapproval," says McElhinney.
With 2,000 contacts in the first 12 months, YHS is delighted with its progress, particularly given that news of the service has mostly been through word of mouth.
The majority of the service's clients are seeking health information. YHS's sexually transmitted infection service has seen more than 250 patients since it opened.
GPs, youth workers, college groups and women's support groups are the main sources of referrals to the service.
Based on Shandon Street in the centre of Cork city, the centre prides itself on its relaxed atmosphere and it is hoped that the positive experience at the centre will encourage young people to access other services.
"If there are several services available under the one roof, young people are more likely to use them. Also we hope that YHS will ease them into health services and encourage them to move on to more services. It will hopefully act as a gateway to other services."
Parents as a group are also important to YHS, and McElhinney encourages parents to talk openly about sex and sexuality with their children.
"This helps to protect them from having sex too early and prevents crisis pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. At YHS, we want to support that process," she says.
It is hoped that the service can be rolled out for teenagers and young adults in other parts of the country when the pilot phase in Cork/Kerry is completed at the end of 2006.
• YHS can be reached on tel: (021) 4220490/1; e-mail YHS@mailp.hse.ie or by dropping in to the YHS centre at the bottom end of Shandon Street, Cork.