Creating connections: Strategies to improve adolescent boys’ access and engagement with school-based health services

Abstract

The aim of this grounded theory study was to investigate strategies used by school-based nurses to promote adolescent boys' access and engagement with school-based health services. Interviews were conducted with 10 school nurses in South-East Queensland, Australia. The central process identified was creating connections, encompassing three inter-related processes: facilitating communication, mediating contextual issues and bridging cultural issues. These processes incorporate strategies that highlight ways school nurses can engage with boys, individually and collectively, to promote and facilitate help-seeking from school-based health services. Findings inform practice and guidelines for improving boys' access to school-based health services.