Social health Needs in High School Female Students: Phenomenological Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In countries like Iran in that most of the population consists of young people, designing and implementing
comprehensive health programs targeted at young people must become a priority in national programs. More than
half of high school students in Isfahan are female. Because of their more vulnerability, and their role in health of future
generations, it is essential for health community to be aware of what they are experiencing about their health needs, and
based on this awareness, designing and implementing accurate programs should be done in order to improve their
health. This study was carried out with the aim to describe experienced health needs of female high school students.
METHODS: A phenomenological qualitative approach was used with participants chosen amongst the female high school
students from five districts of Ministry of Education – in Isfahan. Purposeful sampling was adopted in the study and
sample size was composed of a total of 15 participants selected and went until data saturation. Deep interviews were
used through Straubert method.
RESULTS: From the findings of the interviews, 77 codes expressing participants' experiences were emerged. At the end
these codes were categorized in 3 themes. As 1) school and school performance 2) social security 3) interactions with
opposite sex.
CONCLUSIONS: Social interactions are crucial during adolescence and have great impact on students' health. In fact,
female adolescents express and define their health according to their interactions and communications with the environment.
KEY WORDS: Social Health, adolescents, social interactions