Sexual Health and Reproductive Health Knowledge of University Students in Thailand and an Exploration of Views and Information Needs about How to Promote Sexual Health

An investigation of sexual health and reproductive health knowledge of university students in Thailand and an exploration of views and information needs about how to promote sexual health

Literature Review

Introduction

Health has two definitions in common, both positive and negative definitions. The negative meaning is referring to the absence of disease or illness within the western scientific medical while the positive meaning defines health as a state of well-being (Naidoo & Wills, 2009). The World Health Organization, (WHO 2012) defines health as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity'. In addition, since the late 19th and 20th century, the concept of health has changed by many philosophies of health.

The term “health” has both positive and negative definitions. The negative meaning refers to the absence of disease or illness while the positive meaning defines health as a state of well-being (Naidoo & Wills, 2009). The World Health Organization: WHO (2012) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. In addition, since the late 19th and 20th century, the concept of health has changed by many philosophies of health education. Other related terms are 'health promotion' and 'health education'. The term health promotion was used for the first time in the middle of 1970's (Naidoo & Wills, 2009). Scriven (2010) states that 'Health promotion is about raising the health status of individual and communities', while 'Promotion' in the health context means improving, advancing, supporting, encouraging and placing health higher on personal and public agendas. In terms of 'health education' WHO (2012) defines the concept 'as the consciously constructed opportunities for learning involving some form of communication designed to improve health literacy, including improving knowledge and developing life skills which are conductive to individual and community health'. Recently, the term 'health promotion' has become more widely used since it is more comprehensive than the term 'health education'.

There are several aspects where 'Health education' can be used as a tool to promote health in such varied issues as smoking in adolescence, self-assessment in diabetic patients and sexual health. According to WHO (2012) sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination, and violence. For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled (WHO (2012). There are several resources that can be used for the promotion of the awareness of sexual health among people, for example, classrooms, group discussion, media (television, radio, and advertisement), magazines, brochures, leaflets, and the Internet (websites). According to WHO's (2002) report of a technical consultation on sexual health in 2002, , sex education is especially important for adolescents to help them understand and cope with the ...