RHP&EO is the electronic journal of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education

Adolescent And Family Planning Services In Finland

Riikka Potsonen, Raili Valimaa

University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Health Sciences, Jyvaskyla FINLAND

The purpose of this study was to research adolescents' opinions about family planning services. These experiences may serve as indicators when assessing and developing them. The group interviews also include valuable suggestions about future development.

The focus group interviews were held in schools during the autumn of 1994 with 34 gifts and 27 boys participating ten groups. The schools were chosen to represent different regional parts of Finland as well as different types of living area (city/rural).

The school nurse was familiar to all participants as a family planning worker, but some students considered her as a "health terrorist". The gifts felt more confidant about her than the boys. Adolescent knew little about other local family planning services. The boys had only a slight idea where they should go and when and why they should use family planning services. The girls had had experiences as a client and they had opinions about the availability and the quality of family planning services. For example, most of the girls wanted to get to know the gynaecologist before the first visit.

The young people regarded the quality of family planning services quite good in Finland. Still, they pointed out that they needed more intimacy and time to discuss with adults. Sexuality is a very sensitive subject and the lack of time and the cynical point of view of health professionals can make it difficult to continue to use health services.

During the interviews we found many radical changes, for example, concerning attitudes towards condoms. We also found traditional sex roles lingering in the background. Although the gifts and the boys said that decisions about sexual intercourse and the use of contraception belongs to both partners, we found that both sexes assumed that girls use family planning services more than their partners. The reluctance of boys and men to use health services is one of the biggest problems in the Finnish health service. Both sexes need proper sex education and family planning services.

Internet Explorer 5.0 or later version gives the optimal visual effect of this website.