Reaching Teenagers Where They Are: Best Practices for Girls’ Sexual Health Education

It is well established that girls face an ever-growing list of sexual health challenges. There is a paucity of available literature on ways to reach and teach adolescent girls about sexual health issues and use of health promoting strategies. This article focuses on suggestions for teachers and health care practitioners on developing knowledge competencies, or health literacies, in the area of adolescent girls’ sexual health. We suggest a number of health education practices such as the application of literacy strategies and gender sensitive, developmentally appropriate lesson plans. Instructors, both teachers and health care providers, need also to consider the school or community’s context, curriculum factors and the learning environment. Effective instructional frameworks for lesson planning can help school teachers and health care providers deliver effective sexual health education