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BMC Health Services Research
Published in: BMC Health Services Research 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Research article

STI service delivery in British Columbia, Canada; providers' views of their services to youth

Authors: Cindy L Masaro, Joy Johnson, Cathy Chabot, Jean Shoveller

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

Background

Little is known about service providers’ knowledge, attitudes, and experiences in relation to the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals seeking care for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and how they influence the delivery of services. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of STI care providers and the ways they approached their practice.

Methods

We used a qualitative approach drawing on methods used in thematic analysis. Individual semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 service providers delivering STI services in youth clinics, STI clinics, reproductive health clinics, and community public health units in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Results

Service providers’ descriptions of their activities and roles were shaped by a number of themes including specialization, scarcity, and maintaining the status quo. The analysis suggests that service providers perceive, at times, the delivery of STI care to be inefficient and inadequate.

Conclusion

Findings from this study identify deficits in the delivery of STI services in BC. To understand these deficits, more research is needed to examine the larger health care structure within which service providers work, and how this structure not only informs and influences the delivery of services, but also how particular structural barriers impinge on and/or restrict practice.
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Metadata
Title
STI service delivery in British Columbia, Canada; providers' views of their services to youth
Authors
Cindy L Masaro
Joy Johnson
Cathy Chabot
Jean Shoveller
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-240

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