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Between the Sheets Dec 2011
From the manager's desk
Welcome to the December edition of Between the Sheets. I would like to introduce myself as the new Manager, Health Promotion at Family Planning NSW. I’ve had the pleasure of working with the Health Promotion team for the last four months and, as you will see from this edition, the enthusiastic and talented team work on a large number of projects relating to reproductive and sexual health.
I would like to extend a very warm thanks to Rob Hardy who undertook the Acting Manager role for a large part of this year. Rob has been a wealth of knowledge for me and, along with the rest of the team, has helped me settle into the role very quickly.
This edition of Between the Sheets is filled with information and news about a range of topics which span a new site on our web for teachers; projects which work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through to taking reproductive and sexual health information on the road to remote areas of NSW. Enjoy!
Jane Wicks, Manager Health Promotion
December 2011 - Contents
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- The modern day corroboree
- Aboriginal health workers get Sexuality & Health
- Career development education
- The Bogan bush mobile
- It's time to knock-out STIs
- Undergraduate placements, undervalued
- Hip hop in the Hunter
- Fairfield at the front
- Resource Round-Up
What happens when you bring together individuals and families from throughout western regional NSW for the Dubbo Knockout Football Tournament? You get an important event in NSW Koori culture which provides a great opportunity for FPNSW Dubbo to reach members of the Aboriginal community with safe sex and sexual health messages.
The tournament has formed a special part of the NSW Koori culture for some years now, but is about more than just footy. FPNSW was invited to attend and support Aboriginal communities at this drug, alcohol and smoke free event. An event described by many Aboriginal people as a modern day corroboree.
“Some families only get to see each other once a year, so this is an opportunity for them to catch up, share stories and have a great time together”, said Kristy Kennedy, a Knockout spectator.
Walgett Aboriginal Elder, Helen Dennis said: “White people also attend and we make new friends here and catch up with the old ones. The young men get very excited as it is a really big deal with the community.”
By attending the Knockout, FPNSW also raised awareness of their services. Some Elders displayed their great football agility by side-stepping in and out of the FPNSW tent for condoms and pamphlets. Interaction with many Aboriginal young people demonstrated the close relationship that’s been established by FPNSW in the region.
We’re looking forward to next year’s event, and in case you were wondering, Mindaribba won against the Dubbo Coogars who put up a terrific fight in the Knockout final.
Kallie Fernando, Aboriginal Liaison Officer, FPNSW Dubbo
kallief@fpnsw.org.au
Aboriginal health and community workers get Sexuality and Health
In partnership with Hunter New England Area Health Service, Family Planning NSW recently delivered our nationally accredited course Sexuality and Health in Moree. The course was tailored to meet the needs of local Moree Aboriginal health and community workers. The partnership was built on a series of consultations between Hunter New England Health, FPNSW Hunter and the Moree community.
The workshop enabled local Aboriginal health and community workers to discuss and explore strategies to address local reproductive and sexual health issues impacting on the community. The issues discussed included men’s business and women’s business, anatomy and physiology, contraception, people with intellectual disabilities, sexual assault, safe sex, sexual diversity and values and attitudes.
Very positive feedback showed that all participants felt the workshop was beneficial and they would like to see FPNSW return to deliver more workshops in the future to address sexual health issues of the local Aboriginal community in Moree.
Patrick Duley, Aboriginal Health Project Manager
Mark Morris, Acting Manager Education and Training
Claire Swan, Health Promotion Officer, FPNSW Hunter
Develop your career with CDE
Sexuality and Health – it’s good for everyone
The two-day Sexuality and Health course provides participants with quality sexual and reproductive health knowledge and introduces a range of engaging strategies for sharing this information with others. We can meet with you to tailor training to your group’s particular needs also.
We also run the course twice a year at FPNSW Ashfield.
For more courses, visit Education and Training.
For more information contact:
Mark Morris, Acting Manager Education and Training
markm@fpnsw.org.au
The Bogan Bush Mobile – funny name, serious work
In mid 2011, FPNSW Dubbo Health Promotion Officers travelled to very remote NSW townships to deliver cervical screening information. This was part of a pilot program run in conjunction with Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS), the Bogan Bush Mobile and Contact Inc.
Contact Inc, an organisation supporting isolated children, families and communities approached FPNSW in 2009 to be a part of the pilot to deliver reproductive and sexual health information via a “Women’s Wellbeing and Health Day” for geographically isolated and rural women, in conjunction with the Bogan Bush Mobile.
The Bogan Bush Mobile is a mobile playgroup for children aged 0 to 6 years in the Bogan shire of NSW. The mobile playgroup travels to 12 different communities over 160 sq km and services up to 200 families. The majority of families whom attend the Bogan Bush Mobile live on average more than 18km from each other with limited access to external supports.
By combining the “Women’s Wellbeing and Health Day” with a Bogan Bush Mobile playgroup event, GWAHS and FPNSW were able to address relevant health concerns with the mothers of the Mobile’s playgroup children.
Marra Creek and Quambone, townships up to 272 km from Dubbo, were welcoming of FPNSW and the information on cervical screening. The sessions covered a range of topics including: What is a Pap smear? How often is screening required? Gardasil injections and Pap smears; and the human papilloma virus. Other sessions held throughout each day covered breast care, mental health and nutritional requirements for adults and children.
Participants asked many questions and we received positive feedback for our sessions. All in all, it was a great opportunity to demystify Pap smears and promote their importance.
Jacki McCarthy, Health Promotion Officer, FPNSW Dubbo
jackim@fpnsworg.au
It’s time to knock-out STIs
Encouraging regular tests for sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and promoting positive sexual health for men is not easy. This can be due to stigma and myths associated with STIs. However, with over 35,000 Australian men diagnosed with an STI in 2010* this is an area in need of some positive promotion! In order to punch straight through the stigma surrounding STIs and STI testing, FPNSW decided to team up with a local sporting hero for one of its latest campaigns.
Stepping into the ring to promote sexual health was “Aussie” Joel Brunker, the undefeated Australian Featherweight Boxing Champion and former Olympian. We were inspired by the 25 year old Richmond local who stands undefeated thanks to hard work, commitment and dedication to a healthy lifestyle.
Brunker’s tough reputation and willingness to promote men’s sexual health is a great weapon in the fight to reduce stigma around STIs. The most common infections doing the rounds these days often have no symptoms, so men need to plan regular testing and not wait until symptoms appear.
Sexual health testing can normally be carried out with a simple urine sample and should be considered whenever someone has unprotected sex, changes partner, or as part of a regular health check.
Order your free set of the three Knock-Out STIs posters using the FPNSW Shopping Cart.
*Data obtained from: Department of Health and Ageing, 2010, National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System
katherineb@fpnsw.org.au
Students gain experience by either progressing existing projects or carrying out specialised projects which may not have been undertaken due to limited time or resources. They bring current theoretical knowledge to the service, promote diversity in the workplace and increase exposure of the service to the community. At the same time, FPNSW staff are exposed to current innovations in public health and are able to develop their mentoring and leadership skills.
Our current students have provided some insight into how this program has benefitted their learning.
Over the last two-and-a-half years, FPNSW The Warehouse has developed and maintained a productive relationship with the University of Western Sydney. This evolving partnership is continuously being evaluated to ensure it offers a worthwhile opportunity for the students, whilst benefiting FPNSW.
We anticipate positive outcomes with the continuation of this relationship and feel privileged to assist in the development of the health promotion workforce of the future.
Kath Bennett, Senior Health Promotion Officer, SHPU
Lisa Bogie, Health Promotion Officer, FPNSW Penrith
Chloe Andrew-Jones, Health Science Student
Bianca Brozovich, Health Science Student
Tamiko Viswasam, Health Science Student
Hip hop to health in the Hunter
FPNSW Hunter partnered with other Hunter agencies in a new initiative to encourage young people to think about sexual health by supporting them to produce a Hip Hop music DVD.
While Newcastle Multicultural Neighbour Centre enlisted students from Newcastle TAFE to develop the melody, the lyrics were written by high school students of varied backgrounds and cultures including African, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent and students with disabilities.
FPNSW Hunter was involved throughout the four week program, initially delivering safe sex and relationship information. This included hot topics such as safe sex, contraception, healthy and unhealthy relationships and self esteem. FPNSW then acted as consultants to provide additional education and support to the group whilst the young people incorporated what they had learnt into the Hip Hop lyrics.
![lyrics [lyrics.jpg]](pics/lyrics.jpg "lyrics [lyrics.jpg]")
The resultant three verse and chorus song was finally recorded and its resonant messages of ‘safe sex’ and ‘what I can do to prevent STI and pregnancy’ will hopefully be shared throughout the young people’s networks.
This was a unique opportunity for FPNSW to work with local stakeholders on an innovative program for local students. Feedback from the students showed that they enjoyed the process of learning; in particular the chance to learn about their own sexual health, listen to music and combine the two.
Susan Guest, Health Promotion Officer, FPNSW Hunter
susang@fpnsw.org.au
![FF [ff.jpg]](pics/ff.jpg "FF [ff.jpg]")
Fairfield at the front
In 2011, Multicultural Health Week and Sexual Health Week ran consecutively. The FPNSW Fairfield team capitalised on this when they attended the September Fairfield Youth Space and the Cabramatta Moon Festival. Both events proved great opportunities to provide community access to health information in different languages and sexual health hot topics.
Hosted by Fairfield City Council, the annual Cabramatta Moon Festival is celebrated by Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese people. It’s a tradition dating back over 3,000 years, and this year over 90,000 people attended the festival. The FPNSW stall provided information on cervical cancer screening, contraceptives, clinical services and resources in various languages. As always, FPNSW safe sex packs were very popular and many visitors left the stall keen to attend FPNSW Fairfield for Pap tests and contraceptive advice.
Next up for FPNSW Fairfield was Fairfield Youth Space. FPNSW together with Fairfield Multicultural Health Service, the Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors and Fairfield Liverpool Youth Health team hosted the event. The monthly Youth Space event connects young people with local service providers.
In the September event, the young participants were treated to a sock puppet presentation with the Sexual Health Week theme of “Check It Out” and discussed the challenges of cross-cultural communication in health service situations.
This was followed by activities where young people simulated putting on a condom under the influence of alcohol, made mocktails and tested their hand washing skills under a UV light. The event concluded with a healthy lunch of foods from different cultures and a fun drumming session.
Jacqui Greenfield, Kristie Cocotis, Health Promotion Officers, FPNSW Fairfield
jacquig@fpnsw.org.au
Resource round-up
The TAP is one of health promotion's freshest resources
We asked Yuri Chernenko, Senior Health Education Officer, about FPNSW’s latest resource to help teachers TAP the web.
What is the TAP?
TAP is short for Teachers’ Audience Page. It is a webpage developed to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for all the things NSW Personal Development, Health & Physical Education (PDHPE) teacher’s need. It’s not just useful for teachers either. Anyone working with young people, for example school nurses, youth workers and school councillors will find TAP a valuable resource.
What things will users find there?
At the TAP, users will find professional development courses, teaching and learning activities for primary and secondary teachers, links to other useful pages, FPNSW resources such as free youth information cards, and external resources such as Department of Education and Communities (DEC) Teaching Sexual Health website. TAP has begun with a good selection of information, but we’ve only just launched it so it will grow and build as we continue to add more information and resources with particular attention to teaching and learning activities.
![School Zone [untitled 1.jpg]](pics/untitled_1.jpg "School Zone [untitled 1.jpg]")
Why is the TAP useful?
It’s useful because teachers can access everything they need in one central location. It also builds on what teachers find on the DEC website with a specific focus on reproductive and sexual health. So, TAP is great if you want more or specific information.
Where is the TAP found?
The TAP is easy to find on the FPNSW website: http://www.fpnsw.org.au. There is a link on the homepage called School Zone which will take you to the TAP. There’s also a ‘How To’ guide which provides some more background to the TAP and some simple instructions on how to use the resource. It’s definitely worth a look!
Top Selling FPNSW Resources
- Hey Sister! Hey Brother! - contraception booklet
- Why Use Condoms? - small booklet
- Contraception: The Basic Facts - booklet
Most Visited Health Promotion Resources Online
- Safe Sex Pack for Young People
- Keep It Safe, Keep It Sexy - Youth Information Card
- Keep It Safe, Keep It Sexy - Sticker
This information is applicable for: Aboriginal Communities; Disability Workers; Doctors; Men; Multicultural (CALD); Nurses; People with a disability; Same-sex attracted; Service Providers; Teachers; Women; Young people
Subject: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders; Aboriginal People; Communicable Diseases; Education; Health Education; Health Promotion; Indigenous peoples; Public Awareness; Risk Behaviour; Safe Sex; Sexual Health; Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Keyword(s): Disability; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual; Men's Health; Multicultural; STIs/STDs (Sexually Transmissible Infections); Sexual Health; Women's Health; Young People
