The Determinants for Access and Use of Reproductive Health Information among Teenage Girls in Kaptembwo, Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Health and other relevant stakeholders, have tried to enhance the reproductive health status of all Kenyans especially to the vulnerable groups like teenage girls. Despite this initiative, there is still increase in early pregnancy, abortion, STIs including HIV/AIDs, school dropouts and single parenting among teenage girls in informal settlements in Kenya. The aim of the study was to establish the determinants for access and use of reproductive health information among teenage girls in Kaptembwo, Nakuru County, Kenya. The objectives of the study included: to establish the sources of information on reproductive health, to investigate the socio-economic factors affecting access to reproductive health information and to determine the effectiveness of approaches used in accessing reproductive health information among teenage girls in Kaptembwo, Nakuru County, Kenya. The study was guided by Wilson‟s General Model of Information Behaviour. Data was collected from a sample of 127 teenage girls aged between 13-19 years from Nakuru West Secondary School, Kaptembwo Primary School and Youth for Christ Group Nakuru. The study employed descriptive survey design. Purposive sampling technique was used to identify respondents for the study. Quantitative data obtained through the use of questionnaires was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 software. Qualitative data was analysed using narrative statements based on relevant thematic areas. The results obtained from Kaptembwo showed that more than half of the teenage girls reported that they received their information on reproductive health from their peers. It also appeared that the teenagers with a higher level of education accessed reproductive health information more than the teenagers with a lower level of education. Teenagers with parents with formal employment also had a higher access to reproductive health information. Based on the findings, the study recommended that, sex education should take place both at home and in school, national government and county government should fund family planning programmes to ensure that any teenage girl, regardless of income, has access to reproductive health information and services. The study concludes that determinants (sources of information on reproductive health, socio-economic factors and approaches used in accessing reproductive health information) have been found to be interacting with access and use of reproductive health information by teenage girls.