Policies and Procedures are in Place that Guarantee Client Confidentiality Facility managers and health care providers reported in almost one voice and said there were policies or procedures in place that guaranteed the confidentiality of adolescent clients in their facilities. When asked to mention what the policies said the following responses were common: the oath of the nurse is that she/he shall not disclose information about client health problems rather than for the purpose of assisting the client to get a better health; they had guidelines that guarantee confidentiality regarding clients health issues; patients rights charter; it is the facility policy that no member of staff shall disclose patient information without a reason and permission of the authority; every patient has a right to confidentiality and privacy; posters showing rights of clients; HIV and AIDS manual; declaration and dedication of confidentiality were signed by all members of the staff; it is general code of conduct among all members of our staff; reproductive health policy; clients rights policy and sexual reproductive rights. The above responses showed that respondents did not exactly know what the policies said, but rather mentioned the names of various policies and declaration charters related to confidentiality. This showed that in order to improve confidentiality and confidence of clients in health services providers and facility managers, there should be a serious effort to educate the health personnel about the contents of various policies and declarations that they seem to know by names only. When asked if there were specific action/procedures to protect the confidentiality and how they were applied the facility managers mentioned the following issues: reference was made to confidential procedures all the time; consultative meetings were held with staff where an appeal was always made to members of the staff to ensure confidentiality of the clients; frequent reminders of the staff about how critical it was to keep clients health issues confidential; all our staff were frequently exposed to in-service training and the emphasis was on observing confidentiality about clients health issues; finally a serious effort was made to ensure that clients were consulted on individual and private environment. All service providers reported that there were circumstances where they would not observe the policies of health facility confidentiality, for example, if an adolescent was pregnant one of the critical issues would be to call a parent in order to council both. Secondly if an adolescent needed a special service and in the judgement of the provider that adolescent needed parental concession the confidential code would be violated.
Policies and Procedures are in Place that Guarantee Client Confidentiality Facility managers and health care providers reported in almost one voice and said there were policies or procedures in place that guaranteed the confidentiality of adolescent clients in their facilities. When asked to mention what the policies said the following responses were common: the oath of the nurse is that she/he shall not disclose information about client health problems rather than for the purpose of assisting the client to get a better health; they had guidelines that guarantee confidentiality regarding clients health issues; patients rights charter; it is the facility policy that no member of staff shall disclose patient information without a reason and permission of the authority; every patient has a right to confidentiality and privacy; posters showing rights of clients; HIV and AIDS manual; declaration and dedication of confidentiality were signed by all members of the staff; it is general code of conduct among all members of our staff; reproductive health policy; clients rights policy and sexual reproductive rights. The above responses showed that respondents did not exactly know what the policies said, but rather mentioned the names of various policies and declaration charters related to confidentiality. This showed that in order to improve confidentiality and confidence of clients in health services providers and facility managers, there should be a serious effort to educate the health personnel about the contents of various policies and declarations that they seem to know by names only. When asked if there were specific action/procedures to protect the confidentiality and how they were applied the facility managers mentioned the following issues: reference was made to confidential procedures all the time; consultative meetings were held with staff where an appeal was always made to members of the staff to ensure confidentiality of the clients; frequent reminders of the staff about how critical it was to keep clients health issues confidential; all our staff were frequently exposed to in-service training and the emphasis was on observing confidentiality about clients health issues; finally a serious effort was made to ensure that clients were consulted on individual and private environment. All service providers reported that there were circumstances where they would not observe the policies of health facility confidentiality, for example, if an adolescent was pregnant one of the critical issues would be to call a parent in order to council both. Secondly if an adolescent needed a special service and in the judgement of the provider that adolescent needed parental concession the confidential code would be violated.