title: Young people's perceptions of youth-oriented health services in urban Soweto, South Africa: a qualitative investigation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 2006, the South African Department of Health adopted and scaled-up loveLife's Youth Friendly Services (YFS) initiative to a national policy to improve youth utilization of health programmes by strengthening community sensitisation and counselling services. As these services roll-out, alternative services to target young people are also becoming more popular. Success of any of these services, however, is dependent upon young people's perceptions of these health services as a whole. This paper aims to examine the knowledge and perceptions of current health services oriented towards young people and examine potential alternative approaches to health service delivery.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted in urban Soweto, South Africa. Twenty-five in-depth interviews were conducted between May-July 2012. Twenty-three of these were analysed according to modified grounded theory.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Knowledge of YFS was very low with no thorough knowledge of the programme's purpose or activities. In general, young people were dissatisfied with the current health services in Soweto citing a lack of resources, long waiting times, and poor quality of care heightened by an underlying lack of choice and perceived inequity. When compared to alternative models of service delivery, no particular model was preferred over another.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Greater knowledge of whether and to what extent local clinics in Soweto are implementing YFS standards is needed. If implemented, improved outreach and advertisement is suggested. In-service training of nurses should be prioritized with a focus on sensitivity and equitable treatment to all.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. bschriver@alum.emory.edu.
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schriver
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. meagleyk@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meagley
authors.affiliation: MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Shane.Norris@wits.ac.za.
authors.forename: Shane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Studies, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, England, UK. becs.geary@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Geary
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. aryeh.stein@emory.edu.|MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. aryeh.stein@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Aryeh D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006296:Health Services; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses; D036301:Qualitative Research; D034121:Reproductive Health Services; D013019:South Africa; D014505:Urban Population