Toolkit for Improving Family Planning Services in School Settings

Strategies for Maximizing Outreach and Access to School-Based Sexual Health Services

Zabryna Balén, Hannah Lantos, Jenita Parekh, Jennifer Manlove, Katherine Cushing, Donnie Greco, & Andrea Shore

Positive sexual health outcomes depend on students knowing what sexual health services are available to them—both in and out of school—and how to access them. Maximizing Outreach and Access is one of the four foundational approaches to school-based sexual health services highlighted in this toolkit.

This section of the toolkit highlights outreach strategies that take place throughout the school—meaning those that happen within a school, outside of a health care setting—and those that take place within school-based health settings, such as a school-based health centers (SBHCs) or other school health structures.

Outreach Strategies that Take Place Throughout the School

Outreach Strategies that Take Place Within School-Based Health Settings

Using This Tool

Audience

Structure

Adapting outreach strategies to your context

Needs Assessment Questions on Current Outreach Strategies at Your Site

Outreach Strategies that Take Place Throughout the School

The strategies in this section focus on increasing outreach by working throughout the school community rather than limiting activities to a clinic or school-based health setting. Many of these strategies are applicable to schools with SBHCs and are useful for health care organizations looking to enter schools without a clinic to do outreach, education, or service provision.

Extracurricular Activities

Lunchtime Activities

Health Fairs and Health Campaigns

School Assemblies

Classroom Presentations and Sex Education Implementation

STI Testing Days

Outreach Strategies that Take Place Within School-Based Health Settings

The strategies in this section focus on increasing outreach by working within the SBHC or other school-based health setting. While these strategies may be harder to implement in the absence of school-based health services, some could be adapted to clinical settings outside of a school.

Sport Physicals

Adolescent Screening

One-on-One Education Visits

Senior Check-Out Visits

Next Steps

Now think about potential next steps to increase outreach related to sexual health services and set some intentions. The following statements can serve as prompts to help you identify next steps.

Reflections on Goal Setting

1. Identify at least one new sexual health outreach strategy to implement within your school-based health setting or organization over the next three months.

Think about new opportunities for sexual health outreach and engagement in your SBHC. Ensure that your conversation identifies ways to reach all student populations.

2. Identify at least one existing sexual health outreach strategy within your school-based health setting or organization to improve over the next three months.

Think about what is already happening within your SBHC with sexual health services outreach and engagement. Consider what could be done more efficiently or more effectively and what efforts are not having the desired outcomes. Think about smaller changes that you can test and include in SBHC protocols. Ensure that your conversation identifies ways to reach all student populations. Then consider an additional small change.

3. Identify at least one new sexual health outreach strategy to implement within the school(s) at which you are located over the next three months.

Think about new opportunities for schoolwide outreach and engagement related to sexual health services. Ensure that your conversation identifies ways to reach all student populations.

4. Identify at least one existing sexual health outreach strategy within the school(s) at which you are located to improve over the next three months.

Think about what your SBHC is already doing in the school around outreach and engagement related to sexual health that could be done more efficiently or could be more effective. Think about smaller changes that you can test and include in SBHC protocols. Ensure that your conversation identifies ways to reach all student populations. Then consider an additional small change.

You can view the Next Steps questions as a PDF form here.

Resources and Citations Referenced in this Section

Extracurriculars:

Health Fairs and Health Campaigns:

Classroom Presentations and Sex Education Implementation:

STI Testing Days:

Sports Physicals:

Adolescent Screening:

One-on-One Education Visits:

Senior Check-Out Visits:

Suggested citation

Balén, Z., Lantos, H., Parekh, J., Manlove, J., Cushing, K., Greco, D., & Shore, A. (2022). Maximizing outreach and access. Child Trends. https://doi.org/10.56417/3934l7655c

This publication is supported by the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $2,036,999 with 100 percent funded by OPA/OASH/HHS. The contents reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, OPA/OASH/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, visit https://opa.hhs.gov

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