Service Learning Proposal

Serving Learning Proposal For VOX (Voices for Planned Parenthood)

By: Devorah W., Ashannie C., Chelsea D., Joel K., Zach P., Trinidy M.
September 27, 2012
Meredith Tweed
WST 3015

Community Partner Profile:

Community Partner: VOX, Voices For Planned Parenthood UCF
Contact: Megan Pabian - Leader of communications for Health Services and Anna V. Eskamani - Development Coordinator for Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando.

Community Partner Mission Statement: “VOX is the Latin word for "voice" and VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood is a nationwide program to energize and mobilize the new generation of pro-choice Americans. VOX aims to educate and inspire a new generation of young adults to advocate reproductive freedom.”

Political and/or Social Basis for Organization:
VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood is a sexual health and reproductive rights group. The UCF chapter focuses on education, access and community.  The mission of VOX UCF is to educate the university community about reproductive health and rights, to translate increased awareness into pro-choice activism on campus, and to serve as a coalition partner to state, national, and international reproductive rights efforts.
Community Partner Needs: VOX needs students to help organize public events, to help educate those who are unaware and give more knowledge to those who are already informed. Along with the needs that VOX already imposes we will be working closely with them to petition for free screening twice a month at the UCF campus, which will in turn help VOX reach out to individuals.

The Proposal:

According to the American Social Health Association more than half of the population will have a Sexually Transmitted Disease/Sexually Transmitted Infection by the age of 25.  Presently it is estimated that 65 million of the American population has a viral STD/STI and every year, there are at least "19 million new cases which some are curable."

HIV testing is readily available on the UCF campus weekly at a low cost although, tests for the other sexually transmitted diseases are offered free once or twice a year. If the screenings were offered more frequently, and information made more available on the prevention and cures of the STD/STI’s, unnecessary spreading would subside. 

Untreated STI’s in women can lead to infertility or cervical cancer such as the Human Papilloma Virus and Chlamydia, which often show no symptoms.  Other STI’s that cannot be “cured” such as Herpes can be managed if detected.  It is estimated that 90 percent of those infected with herpes do not know that they have it.  The CDC recommends that sexually active females 25 and under should be screened at least once a year for Chlamydia, even if no symptoms are present.

Because many young adults are sometimes embarrassed to ask questions and are unaware of STI's there is poor knowledge about the issue and should therefore be implemented any way possible. The reason why the term "young adult" was used is because we are working to create awareness and get these STI screenings on campus, which would be very convenient for individuals. However, STI screenings should not be limited to only young adults it should be conveniently accessible to individuals of all ages.

Plan Proposal:

 As we have identified above the problem is unawareness. Our plan to fix the issue of STI’s on campus is to start with awareness. We will begin by educating UCF of how dangerous STI’s can be when untreated, as well as how UCF only offers two free screenings a semester for a select 150 students. This means that in a campus where we have over 60,000 students less than 1% of students are getting tested at the health clinic for free. As a student we are offered many services for the benefit of our heath, we are offered psychological counseling, certain medical treatments, and many other important benefits, STI screenings should be one of them.  In our proposal we plan to start a petition where we get UCF students and faculty members to sign off on a petition requesting free STI testing once a month at the UCF health clinic. By spreading awareness of this issue and getting signatures we will not only be spreading our mission of free STI testing but also spreading awareness of the importance of STI testing in general, thus more people on campus will be tested. The ultimate goal of our project is to not only raise awareness of how important testing is on our own campus, but how important it is that everyone get tested.

Rationale:

Planned Parenthood’s ultimate goal is women’s health. While working with VOX we would only be supporting the fact that when it comes to health we simply cannot put forth a mediocre effort. This is why our first step to protecting women’s rights should be protecting their health. The best way to accomplish this goal is by offering free STI testing on campus, once a month. STIs, especially for women, can be very dangerous because of how many times they go unnoticed  “STIs may not be noticeable or may be difficult to diagnose as women often do not have any symptoms or, if they do, the symptoms are mistaken for something else” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 215).

STIs have an affect on anyone who contracts one, male or female. Some of the effects STIs have on women are not only limited to physical symptoms, but mental and emotional symptoms as well. “Sexually transmitted infection can affect how a woman feels about her body and her partner and can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease or infertility” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 215), the psychological effects of infertility can be too much to bear, especially on women who have yet to conceive. STI testing on campus is very important for the reasons that if more women (and men) are tested annually then they will be able to get the help they need right when the problem presents itself. With so many different services offered on campus our first priority should be the health of our students and supporting the health of the women on campus.

Action:

 Presenting a petition demonstrating the need for comprehensive STI testing- testing that includes chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes types 1 and 2, HPV, and HIV- on campus at least once a month propels our plan into action. While it is true that the Health Center offers free STI testing twice a semester and Planned Parenthood offers testing at their health centers for an incredibly discounted rate, the reality is however, there are students who live on campus that do not have access to transportation; the reality is, there are students who have never heard of Planned Parenthood. When UCF offers testing only a few times a year, the reality is, students are not being given equal access to the comprehensive healthcare they so deserve. In order to complete our project, we will need pens, petitions, and passion. The individual group members responsibilies/tasks will be to reach a quota per week in the number of signatures in order to successfully manage our project.

We will start by creating the petition. After writing the petition we will go into highly populated areas around campus (the gym, student union, memorial mall, outside of classes, etc) and try and grab people’s attention so that we can get as many signatures as possible. After getting signatures we will present the petition to the administration. Even if our petition is unsuccessful it will raise awareness to the issue of STI testing on campus and the students will start to understand just how important it is that we have free testing available on campus.

Timeline:

October – December: The month of October is GYT: Get Yourself Tested month and in honor of this we will begin collecting petitions in order to reach the goal of getting free STI testing on campus twice a month. This is in partnership with MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the CDC and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and other national partners.

Works Cited:

American Social Health Association. (1998). Sexually transmitted diseases in America: How many cases and at what cost? Research Triangle Park, NC: American Social Health Association.

"It's Your Sex Life." About GYT. MTV Channel, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives. 5th ed. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print

WORD COUNT: 1377