Options launched our Design Options programme to provide fresh innovative and practical advice and solutions to provide commissioners of adolescent and sexual health care services in the UK.

Sexual Health Needs Assessments (SHNA)  
Investment in sexual health services can deliver healthcare savings through preventing unplanned pregnancies and reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted infections including HIV. There is evidence that investment in sexual health interventions is good value for money (within the cost-effectiveness range accepted by the NHS) and in many cases cost-saving.  Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are responsible for ensuring sexual health services meet local population needs and reduce health inequalities. To this end, appropriate service commissioning and service provision is inextricably linked to local sexual health needs assessments (SHNAs).  Design Options developed a "How to" guide designed to assist lead officers responsible for coordinating, executing and delivering an SHNA. It is hoped this guide will be of interest to those who are responsible for the planning, commissioning and delivery of sexual health services and for reducing health inequalities.

Design and Sexual Health (DaSH) – Gateshead  
Working in partnership with Gateshead PCT, Design Options developed a blueprint for a new integrated sexual health service for the area. Both real and perceived barriers exist for people who seek support, advice or testing for sexually transmitted infections. Design Options used service design expertise to develop practical and imaginative solutions to reduce these barriers.  A range of approaches were used to access the views, experience and preferences of different service users. Service providers and user stakeholders from across the area were consulted; best practice nationally and internationally reviewed and existing services across the UK visited. Working closely with Gateshead PCT, Design Options developed a blueprint for a new service to be implemented in April 2007.

Mapping Teenage Pregnancy  
Design Options sexual and reproductive health and local intelligence experts worked for Brighton and Hove PCT to map local teenage pregnancy, abortion and conception rates and the distribution of STIs across the city. These data were then overlaid with the location of all sexual health services across the city and the location and size of practices with female GPs to provide a spatial picture of need and services. As part of this project, our experts provided a full review to the PCT of the quality and utility of their local teenage pregnancy and abortion data - in comparison with the Nationaly calculated teenage conception rates. This exercise was designed to provide clear and accessible data to aid local decision makers' understanding of how local data could be used for the evaluation of their local interventions in timescales that fitted with the projects, rather than having to wait for the release of conception data nationally.

Teen Life Checks  
The Teen Life Check is a Department of Health initiative which uses an online interactive questionnaire to encourage young people to focus on their health and well being as part of the Teenage Health Demonstration Pilots. Design Options has been working with Portsmouth City Council to produce a communications strategy, young people informed local branding of the Teen Life Check (TLC) to help Portsmouth reach the DH target of 100% of local 11-14 year olds knowing how they can get their own TLC and "check it, before they wreck it".  Design Options has worked with local practitioners and partners on the Portsmouth Adolescent Steering Group to develop an effective and engaging programme of promotions and outreach for the TLC. It was vital that this involved including young people in the design of promotional material for the programme given that they were the target of the initiative. The branding had to incorporate national DH messages, but needed to have local resonance and be useful for broader adolescent health programme branding in Portsmouth. Young people worked with our designers to advise on the look and feel of this material and text, logos and colours have all been informed by their input.