Health Workers’ Perceptions of Italian Female Adolescents: A Qualitative Study About Sexuality, Contraception, and Caring Practices in Family Health Centers

Abstract

Our aim was to explore health workers’ perceptions of providing sexuality and contraception care for female adolescents within family health centers. We interviewed 26 volunteer health workers and analyzed the interviews using thematic analysis. We identified three main themes: (a) “adolescents and sexuality,” with the subthemes “initiation rite,” “me like the others,” and “just for fun”; (b) “adolescents and contraception,” with the subthemes “omnipotent adolescents,” “aware adolescents,” and “women's responsibility”; and (c) “health workers and adolescents,” with the subthemes “to put in order,” “to catch,” and “to teach to take care of themselves.” Our results provided an interesting picture of health workers’ perceptions of their work with Italian female adolescents regarding sexuality and contraception.