| Sumario: | Background: Adolescents in Africa encounter various sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges, such as insufficient information, societal stigma, inadequate services, and cultural obstacles. Enhancing collaboration between parents and healthcare providers can foster trust, improve communication, and provide better support, ultimately leading to improved access, quality, and utilization of SRH services (SRHS) for adolescents. Objective: This paper offers perspectives from parents and healthcare providers on the roles of their partnerships in improving adolescent SRHS. Design: The research employed a qualitative phenomenological study design. Methods: The study included eight focus group discussions with parents whose adolescents attended selected youth centers and four face-to-face in-depth interviews with healthcare providers who worked there. Results: The research revealed two prominent themes regarding the partnership between parents and healthcare professionals in adolescent SRH. The initial theme represents the perspectives of healthcare providers, emphasizing the importance of service awareness, cultural norms, geographic obstacles, and the necessity of parental consent as critical subthemes. The following theme reflects the viewpoints of parents, concentrating on the dialogue surrounding sexual health, the role of healthcare providers in promoting family conversations, and the request for support in providing sexual health information to their adolescents. Conclusion: Collaboration between healthcare providers and parents is essential for improving adolescents' access to SRHS, which can greatly mitigate health-related risks. Nonetheless, this partnership encounters obstacles stemming from insufficient awareness of available services, sociocultural influences, and a lack of parental understanding regarding SRH topics. It is imperative to tackle these challenges through focused educational initiatives and enhanced communication strategies to create a supportive atmosphere that enables both adolescents and their parents to effectively address SRH concerns. Plain language summary: The importance of collaboration between parents and healthcare providers to improve access to adolescent sexual and reproductive health services Background: Adolescents in Africa often struggle with a lack of reliable information, societal stigma, inadequate services, and cultural barriers that hinder their ability to access SRH resources. These challenges can lead to negative health outcomes, including unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Objective: The research aims to gather insights from both parents and healthcare providers about how their partnership can enhance SRH services for adolescents. Design and Methods: The study utilised a qualitative phenomenological approach, conducting eight focus group discussions with parents of adolescents attending youth centers and four in-depth interviews with healthcare providers working at those centers. Results: The study revealed two primary themes concerning the collaboration between parents and healthcare professionals in the context of adolescent sexual and reproductive health. From the perspective of healthcare providers, there is significant emphasis on the importance of awareness regarding available services, comprehension of cultural norms, the need to address geographic obstacles, and the critical role of parental consent. Conversely, parents underscored the importance of fostering open dialogue about sexual health, the healthcare system's role in aiding family discussions, and their need for assistance in delivering sexual health information to their children. Conclusion: Effective cooperation between parents and healthcare providers is essential for improving adolescents' access to SRH services. However, this partnership faces challenges, such as a lack of awareness about available services, sociocultural influences, and insufficient parental understanding of SRH topics. To overcome these hurdles, targeted educational initiatives and enhanced communication strategies are crucial to create an environment where both adolescents and their parents can openly discuss and address SRH issues.
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