Monitoring and Reporting Results More Closely
11.5 Monitoring and Reporting Results More Closely
Both systems are moving towards greater public accountability in monitoring and reporting on the performance of their policies and programs. However, this does not appear to be happening yet in regards to sexual health and HIV/STD prevention.
This policy direction has three components; (1) better reporting on youth sexual knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and school achievement, (2) regular client satisfaction surveys and (3) incorporating sexual health into health and education indicators systems as well as regular policy/program monitoring studies.
Better Reporting on Youth KAB and Student Achievement
This study has found that public health systems are not regularly monitoring youth sexual knowledge, attitudes/beliefs and behaviours. We also found that school systems are not monitoring or using available data on student achievement in health/sexuality education. As well, neither system is regularly monitoring the attitudes or views of the public, parents or teachers about sexual health issues.
We recommend that such monitoring systems be established on sexual health. This is likely best done in conjunction with Indicators on other adolescent health issues being developed by Health Canada and within the Indicators programs of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.
Regular Client Satisfaction Surveys
This study found that neither system regularly surveys parents or students on their satisfaction specifically related to with sexuality education, adolescent sexual health services and other elements of a school-community approach to promoting sexual health.
We recommend that a baseline national study be done and that appropriate survey instruments be made available to local communities.
Incorporating Sexual Health in Other Indicators Systems
It is not likely that regular surveillance of sexual health risks, youth/student outcomes and systems policies and programs can be done in isolation from other health and learning indicators.
We recommend that essential elements of this study be incorporated into adolescent health indicators systems being developed by Health Canada and other federal department. We further recommend that elements of this study be incorporated into a regular assessment of school health policies and programs to be done by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, in cooperation with Health Canada and provincial/territorial health ministries.