March 2021

Hi Caddyshackers,

This month we welcome back our guest blogger Jen. History will tell us that all visionaries have a dream, we would like to share ours with you.

Imagine walking into a sexual health service that employed as many people as say a Drug & Alcohol service. Three floors of a public health service, with 65 people dedicated to sexual health and wellbeing!

Whoa!

What might this look like? What services would they offer?

Welcome to a thought bubble which happened while having a Mascara Epiphany (whereby Jen has brain downloads inspired by doing mindless tasks).

Quick bit of context:

The Caddyshack team operate in the realms of prevention and education, offering webinars, competitions, a Facebook and Instagram presence and loads of other projects we are a part of like the Condom Dispensers, Out of Home Care training, resources for International students and free bags of condoms for services.

The sexual health clinic offer

• The management of sexually transmissible infections (STIs),

• Specialist management for HIV,

• Assessment and treatment for hepatitis C,

• Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for people with high risk of having been exposed to HIV within the last 72 hours,

• Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for people with high risk of exposure to HIV,

• Gender affirming care,

• Sexual health and LGBTQI+ counselling,

• Support,

• Education,

• Support for health care workers and GPs,

• Research and clinical trials.

Phew! The super dedicated and passionate team are located at the Port Kembla Hospital and we also work with them.

So…please consider this quote:

“A person’s pleasure is as powerful and intoxicating as any force on earth. You may not yet feel it, but within you is a wellspring of vitality that can transform your sexual pleasure and illuminate your life. We often think of sex as separate from the rest of our lives, but nothing could be further from the truth. Our sexual lives mirror our general health, our relationships, and our emotional well-being at the deepest level. It is certainly true that who we are and what we have experienced affects our sexuality, but it is also true that making changes in our sexual lives can transform other parts of our lives, including our relationships.” Mantak Chia

Powerful stuff hey!

Back to the sexual health service vision…

People could book in to see a counsellor about recently having had surgery or treatment for an illness, who are now wondering how to get their sexual selves back on track. Big concern after chemotherapy, a mastectomy or a triple bypass etc.

Pelvic floor physiotherapists would be available to help people rehabilitate their pelvic floor muscles which may have been weakened or damaged by childbirth, surgery, heavy lifting, being overweight, constipation or menopause.

General Practice healthcare, hormone initiation and management and counselling would be available for trans, gender diverse and non-binary people aged 18 and over. There would also be a children’s gender service which would co-create treatment plans with young people, their parents/legal guardians and an interdisciplinary gender service team to reduce gender dysphoria.

Services would include comprehensive, developmentally informed health assessments, provision of evidence-based information, specialist family therapy, psychological support and endocrine treatments as required.

People could book in to see a Sexologist who specialises in human sexuality. A Sexologist could be consulted for any complications in a person’s sex life like, difficulties in getting closer, sensing abnormal sexual behaviour, sexual orientation identity, reduced desires or feeling unskilled.

Clients could also book in with Sex Surrogates when they need help with sexual dysfunction or want to gain more experience. The surrogate would form a treatment plan with a sex therapist, who has separate talk therapy sessions with the client. The surrogate would engage with a client in a physical, intimate way to build their sexual confidence and make them more comfortable with emotional and physical intimacy.

Wait what? See the movie The Sessions it’s great, based on a true story and well worth watching. Dietician, life coach, personal trainer…sex surrogate. We have people help us with many aspects of our lives, why not with sex?

Women’s health nurses, with a focus on the female reproductive system would be available to address cervical screening; contraceptive advice; breast health, pregnancy testing, counselling and referral; menopause and puberty health education.

Men’s Health Nurse Practitioners would provide a range of services for men and boys including health checks and assessment, prostrate case management and puberty health education.

Sound good?

Would it be a safe and supportive service that you might like to access?

Leave you with this…

We spend more time assessing and handling the tomatoes that we are about to buy than the genitals we're about to have sex with.

Which matters, as about 16 per cent of Australians report having an STI at some point in their lifetime — that's roughly 4 million people according to health data from the Kirby Institute.

In general, the more partners that you have, the greater the risk of contracting an STI, particularly if those sexual encounters are unprotected. #normalisecondoms

Also, despite being surrounded by plenty of shouty messages and visuals about sex in our society and on our screens, many of us struggle to discuss what exactly our sexual needs and preferences are.

Let’s continue to reduce stigma around STIs and sexual health and #holdthevision.

What we are loving right now

The book Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski who says

‘Forget what everybody says—even what I, Emily, say—and trust your own instincts. Work with your own body, your own emotions and your own life.’

As always,

Peace, Love & Protection

x