JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Despite the high prevalence of sexual problems, there are both individual-level and system-level barriers to accessing help from a health professional. Online sexual health interventions may be more acceptable to people compared to face-to-face support. Public Sexual Health Clinics (SHCs) in the Netherlands organized a pilot to investigate to what extent online sexual health self-training programs (OSTPs) are helpful and acceptable for young people with sexual problems and can reach persons who do not seek face-to-face help from a health professional. A mixed-method study was conducted to answer these questions. Among the young users of OSTPs, a quantitative baseline and follow-up measurement were carried out. In addition, qualitative data was gathered by telephone interviews among a sample of respondents of the follow-up measurement and nurses of the SHCs. In a period of six months, a total of 1,028 young people completed the baseline measurement, 666 started with one of the OSTPs, 104 participants completed the follow up measurement. In addition, 8 young users and 8 nurses were interviewed. Despite the fact that not all participants complete the OSTPs, most participants are positive about them. The nurses also see added value in the OSTPs as additional services of SHCs. OSTPs can reach large numbers of young people with sexual problems who have not yet sought help from a health professional. Direct benefits occur for some of the participants and are expressed in a decrease in the level of complaints, more satisfaction with their sex life and more knowledge and understanding of the complaints experienced. Indirect benefits relate to normalization of the sexual problems, making it easier to communicate with a sex partner or seek further help from a health professional.