Umeå universitets logga

Introduction WHO has presented a framework for youth-friendly health services, health services should, to be acknowledged as youth-friendly, be 1) Accessible, 2) Acceptable, 3) Equitable, 4) Appropriate, and 5) Effective. Swedish youth health clinics have been responding to youths health needs for many years, and are, at a global scale, one of the best examples of developed youth-friendly health services. Lessons extracted from the implementation of youth health clinics in Sweden could be useful elsewhere. The challenges and strategies utilized by such youth-friendly health services could also be useful to enrich the domains defined by WHO. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore experiences of how to ensure youth-friendly health services from the perspective of professionals working in a youth health clinic. Method Four professionals working in a youth health clinic were interviewed. WHO´s domains of youth-friendly health services were used as a conceptual framework during the interviews. Data collection was conducted during April 2015. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed with a thematic analysis. Results Six themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews. Those were; It should be easy to get here, The focus here are youths, We do not place people in a box, Everything is connected, Guided by policy and experience, and Driven by a shared mission. The five first were related with WHO´s framework for youth-friendly health services, while the last one emerged as a new domain. Conclusions This study found that to ensure youth-friendly health services, certain strategies are needed, including 1) making sure that youths can reach the services easily, 2) ensuring youth-centered health services, 3) providing equal treatment, 4) having good collaboration both within the youth health clinic and with other agencies, 5) maintaining knowledge and experience, and 6) having political support to ensure sustainability for providing health services for youths. Challenges to ensure youth-friendly health services includes ensuring that all youths who need can access the youth health clinic, since access may be hindered through avoiding gender considerations or through stigma towards certain groups of youths. Differences between clinics, in terms of health services provided or interpretations of guidelines [regarding age limits, professions and skills] could also be a challenge to ensure youth-friendly health services.