MAY 2016
Features: Sexual Health Education for Young People with Disabilities: Parents/Guardians
This document provides resources for parents/guardians striving to educate their young person who has a disability about their sexual health. This document outlines some basic facts around young people with disabilities, addresses some of the challenges that parents and guardians might face, and gives a list of resources. This informational factsheet can equip parents/guardians with the tools to educate their young person. Find it here.
Sexual Health Education for Young People with Disabilities: Educators
Young people with disabilities are in need of sexual health education just like their non-disabled peers. Educators working with young people with disabilities must take into consideration a spectrum of needs in order to provide education. This factsheet provides information and resources for educators to support their efforts. The factsheet addresses potential concerns of educators, informational resources, and general guidelines that teachers can use to make sure that all of their students are receiving quality sexual health education. Find it here.
RESOURCES
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Youth and HIV Fact Sheet: The CDC has recently released an updated factsheet on the prevalence of HIV among youth. This new factsheet includes updated statistics on the rates of HIV and AIDS diagnoses, as well as challenges that have risen in efforts to increase HIV prevention. The factsheet also provides updated information on the CDC’s ongoing efforts to combat HIV, additional resources are also included. For more information, click here.
Future of Sex Education: Envisioning the Future of Sex Education: A Toolkit for States and Communities. “The Future of Sex Education (FoSE) provides a strategic plan to support state and local advocates who want to establish a more in-depth sexual education program in their schools. This toolkit includes a step by step process that can be used to form a strategic plan for schools or organizations. To view the toolkit click here.
Healthy Teen Network: What’s Going on in the Classroom? Tips for Assessing the Implementation of Sexuality Education. Creating an effective sexual health education program is hard work and implementing it can be hard as well. Through a series of five steps, Health Teen Network has developed simple strategies that can be used to effectively implement sexual health education programs in the classroom. Click here.
Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health: Marginalized Young Adults, Findings and Recommendations from the Report Investing in the Health and Well-Being of Young Adults. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Resource Council (NRC), has released their briefing on the disproportionate health risks that youth from marginalized populations such as children of immigrants, those in foster care, those with disabilities, and those youth in the justice system, face. These youth are at disproportionately higher risk of negative health outcome. By assessing and meeting their needs however many of these risks can be minimized. The brief can be found here.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
National Adolescent and Young Adult Health Information Center (NAHIC). NAHIC provides a variety of updated scholarly articles written on a variety of topics concerning health risks, development and strengthening strategies to promote adolescent health, teen pregnancy and childbearing, and the impact of state sexual health policies. One of their newest publications, “Developing and Strengthening New Strategies to Promote Adolescent Sexual Health,” looks at the ways in which we can address health disparities among youth pertaining to teen pregnancy. The article focuses on the ways in which we can accomplish addressing a “winnable public health battle” against teen pregnancy in particular. The NAHIC also provides a well of archived articles that focus on socio-demographic disparities, science and approach, mental/behavioral issues and more, all focusing on adolescence. To access the most recent articles, click here.
Young People and HIV: A Call to Action-National Institute of Medicine. This publication investigates the significant impact that HIV is having on young people, particularly among gay, bisexual black men. This paper looks at renewed efforts of implementing effective prevention strategies on an interdisciplinary level spanning educational, social, policy, and healthcare systems, which must collaborate to address this issue. The publication can be here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month (NTPPM). May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month and the Office of Adolescent Health is providing programs, trainings, and webinars all month long to raise awareness about teen pregnancy and how it can be prevented. Specific highlights of this month-long campaign include a webinar about how you can get involved with NTPPM, a live twitter chat which will focus on ideas that can help you raise awareness around teen pregnancy and quick facts about teen pregnancy prevention. Find out more and get involved all month long here. To find out more and get involved all month long, click here.
CAPACITY BUILDING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Center for Strengthening Youth Prevention Paradigms (SYPP): “HIV Prevention at the Structural Level: The Role of Social Determinants of Health and HIV.” This publication examines the importance of developing a structural approach by examining the social determinants of health related to HIV prevention and inequality. By incorporating social determinants of health into capacity building and professional development training, HIV prevention programs will be able to contextualize their work and create more effective programs that lead to improved health outcomes for people living with, or at risk for HIV, regardless of socioeconomic status. To view this publicatican, click here.
Trans Student Educational Resources, GLBTQ + Conferences. Trans Student Educational Resources is a student led organization that aims to enhance the quality and quantity of education around trans and gender non-conforming students. This list of upcoming conferences in 2016 revolve around a multitude of themes including trans-youth, trans adults, and queer youth. here.
15th Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, June 9-11th 2016. This free conference, hosted by the Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia aims to educate trans individuals, allies, and health-service professionals. It offers three days of workshops and activities aimed at the health and well-being of transgender people and their communities. Workshops include: Care for the Trans and Gender Non-Gender Conforming Community-Beyond Basics Application of Skills, Implementing Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP), a Biomedical HIV Prevention Program for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Clients, and Case-Presentation-Intermediate Level Clinical Discussion & Skills Building. Click here to find out more.
National Association of County and City Health Officials Annual Conference July 19-21 2016 Phoenix, Arizona, “Cultivating a Culture of Health Equity.” Registration is now open for the National Association of County and City Health Official’s (NACCHO) annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona. NACCHO’s annual conference is the largest gathering of local health department leaders and public health professionals in the U.S. This year’s focus is on the intersection of health, culture and equality. For more information, click here.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016 Bridging the Gaps: Eliminating Disparities in Teen Pregnancy and Sexual Health Conference. Federally-funded teen pregnancy prevention and adolescent sexual health grantees are invited to attend a three day conference in Baltimore Maryland. It will focus on the sexual health risks related to teen pregnancy and general sexual health. Topics of the conference cover issues around substance abuse, youth development among high risk populations, teen pregnancy prevention programs, program capacity and infrastructure, as well as program implementation. This conference discusses emerging trends in the adolescent sexual education and health field, as well as sustainability of programs and strategies that organizations can implement to form collaborative partnerships. Information on the conference can be found here.
This document was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health (CDC-DASH) under cooperative agreement 1UP87PS004154. The contents do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To submit an article, announcement, or resource for the School Health Equity Newsletter, please call email Mary Beth at marybeth@advocatesforyouth.org
Was this e-mail forwarded to you? If so and you would like to subscribe to Advocates for Youth’s mailing list, please visit www.advocatesforyouth.org/get-involved/sign-up-for-email-alerts.