Young People's Engagement - Let's Talk About Sexual Health

Over the past few months, we've been busy gathering the views of young people as part of Phase 2 of our Young People's Sexual Health Needs Assessment. We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part and shared their experiences, ideas and priorities.

💡 The findings from Phase 2 are now available and can be viewed in the documents section of this page.

But we're not stopping there...

Now We Need Your Expertise

We're delighted to announce that Phase 3 is officially underway, and the Professional Survey is now live: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HSHNAPWWYP2026/

If you work with young people in any capacity, we'd love to hear from you. Your perspective is vital in helping us understand current challenges, identify gaps and explore opportunities to strengthen support and services.

Every response will help build a clearer picture of sexual health needs across our communities.

Want to Be Part of the Conversation?

As well as completing the survey, you'll have the opportunity to express an interest in joining one of our professional focus groups at the end of the questionnaire.

These sessions will allow us to explore key topics in more depth and hear directly from professionals working with young people across a range of settings.

Get Involved

📝 Complete the Professional Survey today and share your insights.

The more voices we hear, the stronger our understanding will be, and the better equipped we'll be to develop services that truly reflect the needs of young people.

Thank you for being part of this important work.

THANKS to everyone who took part and shared their experiences.

Over 270 young people from across Highland and Argyll & Bute took part in Phase 2 of our Young People's Needs Assessment, sharing their experiences of accessing support and information in remote and rural communities.

What we heard was clear:

✅ Accessing support can be challenging, particularly when concerns about privacy, confidentiality, travel, and limited local services come into play.

✅ Online support is important to many young people, offering greater convenience and privacy, although not everyone has equal access or confidence in identifying trustworthy sources of information.

✅ Young people want education that is more consistent, practical, inclusive, and relevant to their lives.

✅ Feeling safe, respected, and free from judgement is essential when seeking support or information.

✅ There is a strong desire for services that are easier to find, more youth-friendly, and designed with young people at the centre.

What Happens Next?

The findings from this phase will help inform service improvements across Highland and Argyll & Bute. The next stage is to work with professionals and ask how we can best support them in their work, and work together to find practical solutions to deliver the changes identified.

📄 Read the full Phase 2 Summary Report in the Documents section to learn more about what young people told us and how their feedback will help drive change.

Your voice matters. Together, we're building services that work better for young people. 🌟

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to bring everything together. The summary results will be available in the next couple of weeks, and we’ll also be sharing details on the next phase of work, so stay tuned for what’s coming next.

As we approach the Scottish Parliament Election on 7 May 2026, we are following the Scottish Government’s official pre‑election guidance for public bodies. This guidance asks organisations to pause external public activity and communications during the election period to ensure neutrality and avoid competing for public attention.

This means our engagement activity will take a short break.
During this time, we’ll continue our work behind the scenes, including analysing the valuable input we’ve already received. However, we won’t be sharing updates or publishing new material until the election period has ended.

The good news?
Once we’re back, we’ll be ready to publish the results of Phase 2, and we look forward to re‑engaging with you and keeping the momentum going.

Thank you for your understanding, and we’ll see you soon after the election period concludes.

Take care, from the team!

Dear readers,

many thanks for sharing our survey for young people across Argyll and Bute and Highland.

We are getting great responses from a wide range of young people, and now we have set a closing date for 7th of February 2026.

If you have any questions or need support with promoting the survey, just get in touch with the team :)

All the best,

Katia