Embedding Sexual Wellbeing As An Ambition For Scotland: An Agenda Setting And Capacity Building Project

The main aim of this agenda-setting and capacity-building project is to support embedding of sexual wellbeing across the policy landscape, as a desirable and measurable ambition for Scotland’s SHBBV Strategy. By fostering cross-sector dialogue and collaboration, this 18-month programme of work will lay the essential foundations for success in measuring, monitoring and promoting sexual wellbeing in Scotland – both in the lifetime of the 2023-2026 Strategy and beyond 2026. As the prominence of sexual wellbeing within national sexual health strategy is paradigm-shifting (i.e. a focus beyond conventional outcomes relating to prevention of blood borne viruses and unplanned pregnancy), a key element of this project will include work to ensure that sexual wellbeing is “bought into” as a worthwhile goal by the wider SHBBV policy and practice community. By engaging with diverse stakeholders (policy, practice, academic, community members) from the outset, this project seeks to “get it right” in establishing sexual wellbeing as a goal for Scotland. Involving diverse groups of young people in these participatory processes will ensure their views and needs are meaningfully included.

The project sought to undertake a consultation process using an online Delphi consensus exercise. This is a standard approach to elicit expert opinion for the purposes of developing consensus.
The data contained in the excel spreadsheet are the results of two rounds of the Delphi consensus exercise to seek suggestions on what content to include in the definition of sexual wellbeing, short-term and longer-term goals for achieving sexual wellbeing in Scotland, and the indicators to operationalise these goals.