School Health Equity Newsletter – August 2013

Feature: SoTheyCanKnow.org

Sexual Health Innovations, a non-profit dedicated to using technology to improve sexual health and well-being, launched a new STI partner notification website, SoTheyCanKnow. The site provides tips, scripts, and videos to help patients notify their partners and even allows for users who will not notify their partners themselves to send anonymous emails. These emails provide relevant health information and help partners find local testing centers. In addition, Sexual Health Innovations is offering clinics and health departments across the country a free year of educational materials for patients about the website.

To access the SoTheyCanKnow site, click here.

To learn more about Sexual Health Innovations, click here.

Capacity Building and Professional Development

2014 STD Conference. The CDC in collaboration with the 15th IUSTI World Congress and the 2nd Latin American IUSTI-ALACITS Congress is hosting the 2014 STD Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from June 9-12, 2014. Deadline for abstract submission is Friday, October 25, 2013. For more information about the conference, click here. For abstract submission information, click here.

American School Health Association 87th Annual School Health Conference. ASHA’s 87th annual conference will provide school health professionals and interested stakeholders with stimulating workshops and speakers, opportunities to network with like-minded colleagues across the various school health disciplines, and time to meet old friends and cultivate new relationships. The conference will be held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from October 9-12, 2013. For more information about the conference, click here.

Healthy Teen Network’s Annual Conference. Healthy Teen Network’s 34th Annual National Conference celebrates “Embracing Innovation” to address adolescent sexual and reproductive health and the needs of parenting teens. Healthy Teen Network will showcase innovative strategies and research focused on adolescent sexual health, pregnant and parenting teens, and building the capacity of youth-serving organizations to sustain themselves for years to come. The conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from October 22-25, 2013. For more information about the conference, click here.

National Sex Ed Conference. This conference is a place for sexuality educators to network and learn from one another. Participants include health educators, community educators, teachers, professors, nurses, social workers, counselors, therapists, scholars, and others who teach sex education. The conference will be held in Meadowlands, New Jersey from December 11-13, 2013. For more information about the conference, click here.

Grant Opportunities

Capacity Building Assistance for High-Impact HIV Prevention. With this funding opportunity from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, and CDC, awardees will constitute a national CBA Provider Network and implement all general program requirements in addition to delivering free, high quality CBA services including: information collection, monitoring, synthesis, packaging, and dissemination; training for skill development; and technical assistance. The letter of intent is due Thursday, August 22, 2013 and the application deadline is Wednesday, October 2, 2013. For more information about this funding opportunity and to apply, click here.

Recent Publications

Creating Safe and Supportive Learning Environments: A Guide to Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth and Families. This book provides a comprehensive examination of the topics most relevant for school professionals. It lays out the theoretical foundation and background school professionals need to understand the social and political trends that impact LGBTQ individuals. In addition, the book covers topics critical for the development of safe, supportive school environments. To preview various sections of the book, click here.

The use of fertility awareness methods (FAM) among young adult Latina and Black women: what do they know and how well do they use it? Use of FAM among Latina and Black women in the United States. This study, conducted by Child Trends, examined FAM use among Latina and Black women and focused on knowledge, sources of information and accuracy of use. The study found that women learned about FAM through family, professionals, and the Internet. Many of the women possessed only moderate to low levels of knowledge regarding FAM. The findings speak to a gap in reproductive literacy that has important implications for FAM users. The between behavior and knowledge could help account for high failure rates associated with FAM use. To access the full article, click here.

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Announcements/News

New Peer-Led Intervention Helps Individuals with HIV Adhere to Their treatment Plans. According to researcher Maithe Enriquez, Associate Professor at the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, HIV-infected persons who have peer educators are more likely to adhere to their medical treatment plans. Adhering to medication regimens allows HIV-infected individuals to live long, healthy lives, but previous studies indicated that only half get medical care or follow their treatment plans. Enriquez evaluated 15 peer educators’ insights into their roles in patients’ treatment progress. Enriquez believes peer-led interventions potentially can enhance HIV care and HIV-related health outcomes. To read the full article, click here.

HPV vaccine: Safe, effective, and grossly underutilized. Officials from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics announced that HPV vaccination rates in girls 13-17 years failed to increase between 2011 and 2012. Data from the 2012 National Immunization Survey-Teen showed that not receiving a healthcare provider’s recommendation for HPV vaccine was one of the five main reasons parents reported for not vaccinating daughters. Other responses provided by parents indicated gaps in understanding about the vaccine, including why vaccination is recommended at ages 11 or 12. To read the full CDC press release, click here. To read CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on HPV coverage among adolescent girls, click here.

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments. Funded by the US Department of Education and the HHS, NCSSLE provides training and support to stakeholders involved in learning environments, and measurement of associated program outcomes. NCSSLE recently launched a new website with supportive from Child Trends and the American Institutes for Research. To access the new website, click here.

Let’s Talk Month. October is Let’s Talk Month, a national public education campaign celebrated in October and coordinated by Advocates for Youth. Let’s Talk Month is an opportunity for schools, community agencies, religious institutions, businesses, media, parent groups and health providers to plan programs and activities which encourage parent-child communication about sexuality. Download the Let’s Talk Month Planning Guidebook as well as additional posters and materials. Check out all available resources for the month here.

Resources