Context: Sexual violence and HIV/AIDS are major public health concerns in India. Comprehensive sexual education for young people can serve as a crucial primary prevention tool for adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes. While there is increased recognition globally regarding young people’s need for sexuality education, translating this recognition into accepted programs in India has been difficult to do.
Objective: To identify best practices for the design and implementation of sexual health education programs and resources aimed at youth in India.
Design: Scoping review of peer-reviewed academic literature and grey sources. Databases searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Cochrane, CINAHL, and PROQUEST; and, Google Scholar for grey literature. Of the total 3272 citations exported for title and abstract screening, 622 have advanced to full-text screening, which is in progress at time of abstract submission. Upon completion of full text screening, data extracted from included papers will be year, location, nature of program being discussed, target audience, other stakeholders involved, process of implementation, process of evaluation and evaluation results, best practices/lessons learned, and other notable points/themes. The final analysis will summarize, map and synthesize this information, and report findings around common trends, and patterns. Areas of paucity in the field and potential goals for future research will also be identified.
Anticipated Results: Initial impressions from articles eligible for final inclusion suggest best practices include the need to: conduct a learning needs assessment before developing curriculum for a youth group, consult local sexual health content experts/organizations in the development process, include India-specific cultural and societal topics in the curriculum, and integrate interventions into mainstream school curriculum and health education services.
Conclusions: Properly designed and implemented sex education programs and resources are an important component in sexual health promotion, and in public health efforts to improve youth sexual and reproductive health. This scoping review will synthesize best practices for sexual health education for youth in India, thereby informing future research and action.