Young people are more likely to use sexual health services if they can access them in schools, according to research.
Two-thirds of young people who attended school drop-in centres in Bristol would not have sought alternative provision, it said. The centres were effective at targeting "hard to reach" groups such as boys and vulnerable young people.
The scheme, run by sexual health service Brook, Bristol City Council and Bristol Primary Care Trust, used nurses and youth workers to offer advice and provide treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, contraception and pregnancy testing. Researchers found using youth workers was key to getting boys to use the services.
The report's author, Debra Salmon of the University of the West of England, said: "61 per cent of the young people we surveyed said they attended because it was at school and easy to access and that they would not have attended alternative provision."
The scheme was set up in response to the government's 2002 UK Sexual Health Strategy, which aims to reduce rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in under 18s.
There was a 143 per cent rise in sexually transmitted diseases between 1991 and 2001 across the UK, with young people among the most seriously affected groups.
The scheme, run by sexual health service Brook, Bristol City Council and Bristol Primary Care Trust, used nurses and youth workers to offer advice and provide treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, contraception and pregnancy testing. Researchers found using youth workers was key to getting boys to use the services.
The report's author, Debra Salmon of the University of the West of England, said: "61 per cent of the young people we surveyed said they attended because it was at school and easy to access and that they would not have attended alternative provision."
The scheme was set up in response to the government's 2002 UK Sexual Health Strategy, which aims to reduce rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in under 18s.
There was a 143 per cent rise in sexually transmitted diseases between 1991 and 2001 across the UK, with young people among the most seriously affected groups.
