Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Information among Adolescent Girls in the Sipepa Community, Tsholotsho District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

This study examines access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information among adolescent girls in the Sipepa Community, Tsholotsho District, Zimbabwe, from which there were high rates of early teenage pregnancy at the time of the study. Using Buckland’s six factors of information access, a qualitative cross-sectional design was employed to gain deeper insights into the research question. Teachers and health workers were selected purposively for the study, because they were mandated to provide SRH services to the target population. The study ascertained that SRH information was moderately available. Various organisations and programmes were named as the pathways in availing SRH information to the adolescent girls in the Sipepa Community. In spite of this, adolescent girls in the community still struggled to effectively access SRH information. The information resources packaged in a foreign language (English) and inadequately focused SRH programmes were among the causal factors of this inability to effectively access SRH information. Therefore, the study recommends that SRH information providers be trained to be culturally sensitive when delivering SRH education, senior students be empowered to mentor peers, and community awareness initiatives at health facilities be enhanced to meet the community’s information needs.