Female adolescents\'health needs: the role of family

• Main Authors: Zohreh Shahhosseini, Masoomeh Simbar, Ali Ramezankhani
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research 2012-06-01
• Series: Payesh
• Subjects: adolescents; needs assessment; family; thematic analysis
• Online Access: http://payeshjournal.ir/article-1-457-en.html

Objective(s): Adolescents health needs are unique. An understanding of these needs will assist in the development of services, risk-reduction strategies and preventive health activities.Methods: This qualitative study was a part of a mixed method study about female adolescents health needs and conducted in Mazandaran province, a province in the north of Iran.67 female adolescents between 12-19 years of age participated in 8 focus group discussion. Inaddittion, semi structured interviews were done with 11 key informants including: 5 parents, 3 teachers and school counselors, 2 obstetricians and one midwife. Participants were selected based on purposeful sampling and with maximum variety. All tape-recorded data was fully transcribed and thematic analysis was done.Results: Findngs of this research around the role of family in adolescents health needs emphasized on 4 overarching themes including: supportive family relationships, needs for responsible parents, well-informed parents and parental monitoring.Conclusion: In attention to the critical role of family relationships in adolescents health needs, Parents education in order to help them to improve their relationships with their adolescents is necessary.