Sexual health interventions should be subject to experimental evaluation

Abstract

This chapter argues that evaluating the effectiveness of sexual health promotion is necessary to promote the use of beneficial interventions, to prevent the deployment of harmful interventions, and to maximize the cost-effectiveness of programmes of sexual health promotion. Experimental evaluations of sexual health promotion should include process evaluations, and allocation may often be of clusters rather than individuals. Sexual health promotion interventions that are not amenable to experimental evaluation, because of political or practical problems, should not be totally ignored by researchers and policy-makers. Where experimental designs cannot be used, other evaluation methods must suffice.