Sexual and Reproductive Health in Adolescence

Research Overview

Project Team:

• Professor Meredith Temple-Smith, Director of Research Training
• Professor Lena Sanci, Head of Department
• Dr Amita Tuteja, PhD student
• Dr Nicole Iturrieta Guaita, Researcher
• A/Prof Jenny Hayes – PhD candidate
• Madeline Lim - PhD Candidate
• Amita Tuteja - PhD Candidate

Sexual health and well-being are important aspects of the transition to healthy adulthood.

This area of research seeks to improve our understanding of the ways in which young people and health practitioners interact around the sensitive areas of sex and reproduction. In a variety of small qualitative studies, often undertaken with the assistance of students, we have explored many aspects of importance to sexual and reproductive health development such as:

• Discussing sexual health: The perspectives of young men and GPs
• Young men’s views of condoms
• Contraceptive choice for young women
• Sexting, hooking-up and pornography
• Vulval anatomy: what is normal? The perspectives of young women and health practitioners
• Contraceptive and reproductive health needs of Burmese refugees
• Contact tracing for syphilis in Chile
• The psychosocial support needs of men women and families experiencing miscarriage
• The sexual health of older Australians

Collaborators:

• Prof Jane Hocking, School of Population Health
• Dr Lester Mascarenhas, Cohealth
• Dr Jane Tomnay, Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health
• Ms Shelley Walker, Burnet Institute
• Dr Megan Lim, Burnet Institute
• Prof Christopher Fairley, A/Prof Marcus Chen, Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Central Clinical School, Alfred Hospital, Monash University
• Prof John Kaldor, Prof Basil Donovan, A/Prof Rebecca Guy,  Prof Matthew Law, A/Prof David Regan, A/Prof David Wilson, Dr Marlene Kong, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales
• Prof Nicola Low, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland
• Prof Robert Carter, Health Economics Unit, Deakin University
• Prof John Imrie, Africa Centre, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research, University College London
• Prof Margaret Hellard, Centre for Population Health, Burnet Institute
• A/Prof Sepehr Tabrizi, Royal Women’s Hospital
• A/Prof Marion Saville, Victorian Cytology Service
• A/Prof James Ward, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute
• Dr Jade Bilardi, Melbourne Sexual health Centre

Publications:

Caddy, C., Temple-Smith, M., & Coombe, J. (2023). Who does what? Reproductive responsibilities between heterosexual partners. Culture, health & sexuality, 1-19. doi:10.1080/13691058.2023.2173800

Hayes, J. A., & Temple-Smith, M. J. (2023). Teaching vulval anatomy in the twenty-first century: the Australian experience. Anatomical sciences education. doi:10.1002/ase.2264

Bittleston, H., Goller, J. L., Temple-Smith, M., Hocking, J. S., & Coombe, J. (2022a). 'I didn't want to visit a doctor unless it was extremely necessary': perspectives on delaying access to sexual and reproductive health care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia from an online survey. Australian Journal of Primary Health. doi:10.1071/py21239

Bittleston, H., Goller, J. L., Temple-Smith, M., Hocking, J. S., & Coombe, J. (2022b). Telehealth for sexual and reproductive health issues: a qualitative study of experiences of accessing care during COVID-19. Sexual Health, 19(5), 473-478. doi:10.1071/sh22098

Goller, J. L., Coombe, J., Temple-Smith, M., Bittleston, H., Sanci, L., Guy, R., Fairley, C., Regan, D., Carvalho, N., Simpson, J., Donovan, B., Tomnay, J., Chen, M. Y., Estcourt, C., Roeske, L., Hawkes, D., Saville, M., & Hocking, J. S. (2022). Management of Chlamydia Cases in Australia (MoCCA): protocol for a non-randomised implementation and feasibility trial. Bmj Open, 12(12), e067488-e067488. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067488

Lim, M. S. Y., Hocking, J. S., Sanci, L., & Temple-Smith, M. (2022). A systematic review of international students' sexual health knowledge, behaviours, and attitudes. Sexual Health. doi:10.1071/sh21073

Liu, W., Lim, M. S. Y., Williams, H., & Temple-Smith, M. (2022). Contraceptive decision making among Chinese international students in Melbourne: findings from a qualitative investigation. Culture Health & Sexuality. doi:10.1080/13691058.2022.2112084

Power, A., Tuteja, A., Mascarenhas, L., & Temple-Smith, M. (2022). A qualitative exploration of obtaining informed consent in medical consultations with Burma-born women. Australian Journal of Primary Health. doi:10.1071/py22138

Yu, A. Y., Temple-Smith, M. J., & Bilardi, J. E. (2022). Health care support following miscarriage in Australia: a qualitative study. How can we do better? Australian Journal of Primary Health. doi:10.1071/py21090

Tuteja, A., Riggs, E., Sanci, L., Mascarenhas, L., VanVliet, D., Sangster, K., McGuinness, K., & Temple-Smith, M. (2021). Interpreting in Sexual and Reproductive Health Consults With Burma Born Refugees Post Settlement: Insights From an Australian Qualitative Study. Frontiers in Communication, 6. doi:10.3389/fcomm.2021.633855