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Homework answers / question archive / HELPING COMMUNITIES GROW, LLC GRANT PROPOSAL S Stanley 2 HELPING COMMUNITIES GROW, LLC GRANT PROPOSAL Sexual Health: An Introduction When someone hears the term “sexual health,” they may think it refers to avoiding unplanned pregnancies or preventing sexually transmitted diseases

HELPING COMMUNITIES GROW, LLC GRANT PROPOSAL S Stanley 2 HELPING COMMUNITIES GROW, LLC GRANT PROPOSAL Sexual Health: An Introduction When someone hears the term “sexual health,” they may think it refers to avoiding unplanned pregnancies or preventing sexually transmitted diseases

Sociology

HELPING COMMUNITIES GROW, LLC GRANT PROPOSAL S Stanley 2 HELPING COMMUNITIES GROW, LLC GRANT PROPOSAL Sexual Health: An Introduction When someone hears the term “sexual health,” they may think it refers to avoiding unplanned pregnancies or preventing sexually transmitted diseases. These are areas to be concerned about, but sexual health relates to a person’s physical and emotional well being surrounding sex and sexuality. (Pandia Health Editorial Team, 2021). Sexual health is a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. (WHO, 2002). Understanding why sexual health may be important to a community because the ways in which you take care of yourself sexually can make a major difference in your quality of life. Good sexual health depends on a number of factors including an environment and a view of self that promotes positive and affirming views of sexuality, access to factual, helpful and comprehensive information and resources about sexuality that leads to healthy behaviors, knowledge of risks of unprotected sex and the actions you can take to make sexual activity as safe as possible and access to sexual healthcare. (Community Access Network, 2020). Sexual health may be important because of the effect it could have on the community. If someone has unprotected sex and the person has contracted HIV or a sexually transmitted disease that is left untreated, the infected person can continue to infect others. Since sexuality is expressed through means learned by socialization, social context is bound to influence sexual behavior. Socialization is the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, ideologies and providing an individual with skills and habits necessary for participating within 3 one owns society. Socialization teaches members of a society how to behave. Behaviors that are not specifically taught as normalized and socially acceptable are marked as deviant. (Lumen, 2021). With sexuality being learned by socialization, those in the community especially teenagers are not practicing safe sex and may not be receiving the education about sexual education and the risks. If teens are not practicing safe sex, the risk of pregnancy increases and the risk for HIV and STDs also increase. There is a social issue of teen pregnancies and the medical concern of increased sexual infections. The reason for this is because of lack of knowledge, not enough awareness being raised and peer pressure. With the right team of professionals that contribute to the field of Human Services, the issue could be talked about so that the issues do not get worse. Sex education, contraceptive and family planning are the main focus. With these three subjects being the main focus it will help decrease the risk of HIV/STDs and teenage pregnancy. Sex education is designed to enhance knowledge; to improve teenagers knowledge and understanding about how the body functions and about human sexuality. Sex education will also educate sexually active teens and those who are thinking about becoming sexually active about the risks that comes with having sex and not practicing safe sex such as HIV/STDs, transmission of HIV/STDs and teenage pregnancy. Contraceptives will prevent teenage pregnancy and using condoms will lower the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. There are a variety of different birth controls and condoms for males and females. Family planning services is a program that gives information relating to birth control and visiting. All of these services can be provided from a physician and clinics that are operated by Planned Parenthood and public health departments. (Hofferth, 1987). 4 A Critical Examination of Sex, Gender and Sexual Orientation Sex and gender are terms that are used often meaning the same meaning, but are actually different concepts and many are not aware. Sex is referring to what you were identified as during your time of birth. This means the biological aspects of an individual by their anatomy are produced by their chromosomes, hormones and their interactions. (Evans and Tollan, 2019). Gender is defined as the way an individual sees themselves. They may identify as a man, woman, no gender or even binary gender. Binary gender means the individual may identify on a spectrum between a man and a woman. (Evans and Tolland, 2019). Gender means the individual may not identify as the sex they were identified as at the time of their birth. Sex and gender are important because you do not want to make the wrong assumptions about others. This will affect how we understand and communicate with others. “Bodies are different to both gender identity and sexuality. Our identities are informed by our bodies and the experiences we have, but our bodies do not define everything about us.” (Kidshelpline, 2021). It is also important to acknowledge what one identifies them self as and not what we believe them to be just by looking at them. Educate yourself, learn about what sex and gender actually means, respect their decision and most of all treat them equal and treat them with respect. Understanding sex and gender assists in improving sexual health and understanding teen pregnancy because you will have the understanding, the knowledge and correct information when discussing these topics to those needing and wanting information on these specific topics. When discussing teenage pregnancy it is important to discuss how a woman’s reproductive system works. Individuals transitioning from a man to woman need to know that yes you will be identified as a woman, but will not be able to physically carry a child on their own due to not 5 having ovaries or uterus and those who are born female and identify as male cannot get another female pregnant because she does not have a penis or sperm. There are surgeries where a man can get a uterus transplant and the surgeon enters the embryo, but the child would have to be born via c-section to prevent stress on the uterus and the male will also not be able to feel the contractions due to not having the specific nerves to feel the contractions. There are many things to consider when discussing sexual health such as what the individual identifies them self as, ways for the same sex to have intercourse and how no matter what you identify as you are still at risk for diseases. “Sexual education is responsive to the specific needs of teens and allows them the opportunity to be active participants in the development and delivery of sexual healtheducation.” (Department of Health, 2010). When you get the attention of teens and you are specific to their needs of understanding sexual health, they become actively involved and gain more knowledge and experience. “Research also suggests that programs that are developed through a partnership of youth and adults may be effective in building their skills and reducing their sexual risk-taking behavior.” (Department of Health, 2010). It is important to understand that HIV/STD infections are a concern for all sexuality types because it can happen to anyone regardless what sex you are. It is important to teach teens that you are not excused from HIV or STDs just because you have sex with the opposite sex. Teach teens that just because an individual has sexual intercourse or sexual contact with the same sex it does not mean that they will automatically have HIV nor are the risks greater just because you have sexualintercourse with the same sex. HIV and STDs are all transmitted the same way; oral, vaginal or rectum. The safest way to decrease risk of contracting HIV or STDs or spreading HIV and STDs are by abstinence and/or using protection. No is safe from contracting HIV or STDs 6 and you should take the proper precaution if you choose to have sexual contact or sexual intercourse with anyone. Yes some STDs are curable, but you also need to know that most STDs and even HIV can go undetected because you may not have signs or symptoms. You can walk around for years and not even know that you have contracted HIV so it very important to have safe sex and not only get tested for STDs, but get tested for HIV as well. Do not think just because it is you that I cannot happen to you because it can happen to any one of us. It is important to understand differences in sexual orientation towards promoting sexual health because “a person’s emotional and sexual attractions to others may not be the same as a person’s sexual behavior.” (Teaching Sexual Health.ca, 2020. Those having sexual intercourse will still have sexual intercourse the same way as those of the same sex will; you just may perform different methods. There are methods that can prevent HIV and STDs such as condoms for men and dental dams for women. No matter what your sexual orientation is it is important to remember that everyone is at risk for HIV and STD and it is important to know that contracting STDs puts you more at risking for contracting HIV. Sexually transmitted diseases will change the cells lining in the vagina, penis, rectum or mouth. This will make it easier for you to contract HIV and for HIV to enter your body. Many think that HIV starts with someone having sexual intercourse with the same sex especially men, but the truth is HIV is contracted because HIV enters your body and contracting sexually transmitted diseases will increase the risk. Sex is sex regardless of your sexual orientation and you are not dismissed just because you are having sexual intercourse with the opposite sex. It is important to let teens know that they are just at risk as those having intercourse with the same sex. 7 Sexual Socialization: Teen Pregnancy and HIV/STDs Parents often worry that their children are susceptible to their friends influence and will be pressured into having sex before they are ready to do so. (Le, 2015). Social influence is associated with smoking and alcohol use among teenagers. Social media has become a huge social influence among teenagers. Common social influences besides social media are peer pressure, thinking your friends approve and thinking your friends are doing it so you do it to fit in. Peer pressure refers to the explicit and direct social pressure to confirm with the demands to fit in. Teens may or may not be motivated to have sex because they would be liked better by their friends or be disliked if they choose not to do it. (Le, 2015). Peer pressure is so common when talking about teenagers because they want to fit in with the crowd and would do just about anything to do so. Teenagers want to fit in and be accepted so much that they are not aware of the long-term consequences that could happen which are HIV, STDs and pregnancy. Thinking your friends approve are injunctive norms reflected in one’s belief about others’ attitudes towards a particular behavior. The friends are not directly telling the teenager to have sex, but rather injunctive norms operate indirectly as where their friends may make it known that it is okay to have sex or not okay to have sex. (Le, 2015). If the teen’s friends think that it is okay to have sex, then he or she will have sex because he or she wants to fit in and be accepted. He or she believes they are getting the okay from their friends to have sex. Thinking your friends are doing it are descriptive norms that refer to what one believes others themselves are doing. If a teenager believes their peers are having sex, then they may be more likely to engage in sex as result of role modeling or limitation. Like injunctive norms, it is a less direct form of social influence than explicit peer pressure. (Le, 2015). When it comes to teenagers wanting to fit in and beaccepted he or she may think hey they are doing it so why not do it, not even knowing if their friends are really doing it or not. Social media is the biggest social influence of all when it comes to sex. It is the norm to exploit 8 your body via social media now. People are sending each other nude pictures, having sex conversations via messenger, dm or in plain view in the comment section. No one cares anymore. Today’s society make it okay to show your body to the work and have sex with anyone. There are even social media apps now where you can sell pictures and videos of your body for money to those wanting to see you. With peer pressure, alcohol, drugs social media and having sex just because others are doing it and teenagers want to fit in, they are forgetting a few things; you can contract HIV/STDs and get pregnant. The community as a whole becomes are at risk for HIV/STDs because people are becoming careless with their bodies, having sex with whomever and sometimes may sleep with a complete stranger and still have unprotected sex with them. There are sex education courses in school, but I do not believe they really teach them or make it known how serious having unprotected sex is and the consequences behind it. You can tell a teenager as many times as you want that abstinence is the best route to take, but what if they do not listen? We have to really educate them. Peer network and individually perceived norms against teen pregnancy independently and negatively predict teens’ likelihood of sexual intercourse. Perceived norms against teen pregnancy predict increased likelihood of contraception among sexually experienced girls, but sexually experienced boys’ contraceptive would be more complicated. If there are stronger norms against teenage pregnancy, then the boy would likely use a contraceptive, but if the norms against teenage pregnancy are absent he may become embarrassed and not use contraceptives. (Boardman,Domingue and Mollborn, 2014). “When it comes down to teenage pregnancy we conclude that patterns of behavior cannot adequately operationalize teen pregnancy norms, norms are not simply linked to behaviors through individual perceptions and norms at different levels can operate independently of each other, interactively, or in opposition. This evidence creates space for conceptualizations of agency, conflict, and change that can lead to progress in understanding age norms and sexual behaviors.” Boardman,Domingue and Mollborn, 2014). When we discuss the community as a whole, adults and teenagers have become careless about 9 their bodies and having sex. When you have unprotected sex especially with those you are not in a committed relationship with they may be having unprotected sex with you and someone else and the other person can have many unprotected sexual partners as well. You are not just having sex with that one person, you are also having sex with who they slept with and it keeps going. We are not thinking about catching STDs we are looking for a good time and a good time can cause those long terms consequences. Socialization may have a negative impact on the community as a whole just because of the negative influences and what we think. If we want to fit it, we do things we do not want to do just because we want to fit it, peer pressure causes us to do things we do not want to do and most of all alcohol and drugs. When we are under the influence we may not think straight and could do things without really thinking about what we are doing at the time. I believe most people contract STDs because they believe it cannot or will not happen to them, they have no symptoms and do not regularly go to the doctor for annual checkups or STD screening when they have sexual contact when the sleep with a new partner and they may be embarrassed about contracting a STD so they do not say anything because they do not want others to know. Some people may even knowingly sleep with someone knowing they have contracted a STD, but will have the other person thinking they contracted the STD. The thing about it is the other sexual partner has sexual partners he or she has sexual contact with so he or she would not even know who they really contracted the STD from. I know partying, meeting people, having sex and fitting in is what may be important to some, but we all need to educate each other, look at the HIV/STD statistics in your state and know that when it comes to your health and safety, you may need to stand out and be that one voice to make that change, bring that awareness and not only teach teenagers about the risk of HIV/STDs and pregnancy, but adults need to be better role models and teach teenagers about the long-term consequences; especially when it comes to teenage pregnancy. I know how hard it is raising a child as a teenager and it is not easy. Not going out with friends, having to work and go to school, providing for another life and finding childcare just to finish school. It is not easy. Teenagers need to live their lives, have fun, enjoy not having 10 responsibilities and stop trying to fit in because you cannot please everyone and everyone will not be in your corner if the long-term consequences become a part of your everyday. If you are going to have sex please use protection and if your partner does not want to use protection just walk away. Do not listen to the sweet nothings, do not give in to the peer pressure and ultimatums and do not let your partner tell you if you or if I get pregnant we will be okay and we can take of it. Teenagers say anything just to have sex and while you are doing things to fit in just remember if the situation turns out bad you will be the outcast anyway so in the end would it even be worth it? Think for yourself; do not allow others to think for you. Your friends would not be there to give you advice if you become pregnant or contract HIV or STDs. You would be all alone regretting your decisions and you will not be able to go back in time and change your mind. You would have to live with that decision for the rest of your life. Human Sexuality and Vulnerable Populations Vulnerable populations include the economically disadvantaged racial and ethnic minorities, the uninsured, the low-income children, the elderly, the homeless, those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and those with other chronic health conditions which could also include mental illness. The vulnerability of these individuals is enhanced by race, ethnicity, age, sex, income, insurance coverage and absence of a visual source of care. (AJMC,2006). The health domains of vulnerable populations have three categories: physical, psychological and social. Those considered physical need would be high-risk mothers and infants, those who are ill and disabled and those living with HIV. In the psychological domain, vulnerable populations include those with mental conditions and the social realm includes those living with abusive family members, homeless, immigrants and refugees. (AJMC,2006). The human services professional’s roles in assisting with addressing with the needs of teen parents and those diagnose with HIV/STDs in the community to create more access, 11 awareness and education, quality of care and legislation and policy. Access is important because we need to bring services to them and create access for teens to be able to receive the education and care that is needed. The goal is to improve physical access in remote rural and deprived urban areas for contraception, pregnancy-related services, reproductive health commodities and counseling. Human services professionals have to ensure financial protection for all vulnerable groups by improving healthcare insurance and access to healthcare for uninsured populations, ensuring free or partially reimbursed contraceptives for women and teenagers in all vulnerable groups and basic benefit packages. The benefit package includes anonymous services with non-judgmental staff, in and out of school sex education, expanded access to free or low-cost family planning, market condoms and emergency contraception for back up and more investments in femaleeducation. (Bernd, Colombini and Mayhew, 2011). Without awareness and education how would those needing assistance know about the information that is needed or information the vulnerable population are seeking? Improve awareness of all vulnerable groups of their entitlements and rights especially when dealing with women and teenagers. Services available would be health mediators and community outreach programs. We have to address barriers and perceptions among women and teenagers. Do not forget to provide information in the language spoken by those who have a different dominant language. (Bernd, Colombini and Mayhew, 2011). Improve quality of care by creating programs to improve antenatal care and screening those who are pregnant in vulnerable groups. The care and screening would not only be for pregnancy, but for sexually transmitted diseases and human immune deficiency virus (HUV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and improving immunization coverage. Quality of care is important because our priority is making sure that those in vulnerable groups are 12 getting the care that they need and assisting those in need of medication because of STDs, HIV/AIDs or vitamins needed during pregnancy or when contracted STDs and HIV/AIDs and not being able to afford the out-of-pocket expenses. (Bernd, Colombini and Mayhew, 2011). Improve the legislation framework of vulnerable groups through making specific and targets for meeting the needs of the women and teenagers of vulnerable groups. Develop strategies including family planning, better integrating strategies and implementing mechanisms into existing legislation for thewomen and teens involving vulnerable groups in the development, implementation and evaluation of specific policies and programs. More ways to improve legislation and policy is to reduce discriminatory practices towards vulnerable groups through better training of staff to reduce stigma and prejudices against those who are in vulnerable groups and improve legislative and institutional framework to address discrimination against those in vulnerable groups. We have to work on improving monitoring and reporting for general vulnerable population groups due to there being little to no data to monitor the situation and progess. (Bernd, Colombini and Mayhew, 2011). When addressing the needs relative to sexuality with vulnerable populations, teens potentially pose a higher risk due to teenage pregnancy and HIV/STDs. The reason for this is because of the lack of education and knowledge, embarrassment and little to no communication or visits to the doctor. It is our job as human services professionals to make sure we are supporting teenage parents. Pregnant and parenting teens often balance their lives while also being a parent. It is the role of the human service professional to ensure that adolescent parents are receiving the care that is needed. Social, emotional, medical and academic support is essential to not only the parent and her future, but the child’s future as well. 13 Addressing sexuality in adolescents will potentially prevent an increase in teen pregnancy because we are educating teens about becoming a mother as well as the repercussions that comes with being a teenage mother. Although the pregnancy rate in adolescents have declined, it still remains a problem with lasting repercussions for teenage mothers, their infants and family and society as a whole. (As-Sanie, Gantt and Rosenthal, 2004). When teens that are sexually active or are thinking about becoming sexually active are educated and know the repercussions becoming a teenage mother, they are likely to practice safe sex and may use contraceptives. I think educating teens before they become sexually active would prepare them for what is to come and to continue to talk to them and remind them what happens when you do not practice safe sex. Addressing sexual needs and expression serves as a proactive strategy towards lessening the HIV/STD rate in the community because as a human services professional you are preparing sexually active teenagers about the repercussions that come with not practicing safe sex. Successful strategies to prevent adolescent pregnancy and includes community programs that will improve social development, responsible sexual behavior education and improved contraceptive counseling and delivery. All of these programs will be confidential, open and non threatening discussions of reproductive health and responsible sexual behavior. When discussing responsible sexual behavior you will discuss condom use to prevent pregnancy and HIV/STDs and contraceptive using including emergency contraception. Teaching these topics to adolescents before sexual activity and continue throughout the adolescent years will keep adolescents focused on the prevention of pregnancy and transmission of HIV/STDs when practicing safe sex. (As-Sanie, Gantt and Rosenthal, 2004). 14 Subjectivity and Aligning Culture With Sexual Awareness Inequality at both individual and systems/community levels will always be existent with a social issue or problem. Biases, assumptions and judgments perpetuate the problem of increase in teen pregnancy rates and HIV/STD infections because of the way we think. We think certain things and assume things cannot happen to us or our children, we think having sexual intercourse with the same sex puts you more at risk for a sexually transmitted disease and parents may not put their child(dren) on birth control thinking their child is too young for birth control or believe their child(dren) are not sexually active. Sexual risk behavior among U.S. adolescents is a major public health concern. Nearly 800,000 women aged 15-19 years old become pregnant in the United States each year and most of the pregnancies are not intentional pregnancies. Roughly 19 million new sexually transmitted diseases diagnosed are among 15-24 years old. I believe the media plays a part in this. The media such as television, film, music and magazines have so much negative influences especially when it comes to sex. The media perceives that it is okay to have multiple sexual partners and even have television shows specifically made for teen moms. Some shoes do show the repercussions, but teenagers only see that getting pregnant at a young age made that teen mom a star and received a lot of attention. The media contains relevant sexual messages and could be linked to various sexual activities to the extent that the media contains sexual messages and may also be linked to developing sexual attitudes and behavior and could affect sexual risk-taking and health in a positive and negative way. (Collins, Martino and ShawRand, 2011). Helping Communities Grow, LLC can facilitate a culture towards change in rectifying the matter of teen pregnancy and understanding the dynamics/characteristics relative to HIV/STDs and human sexuality in general by going out in the community, teach sexual 15 education and advocate for not only sexually active teens, but those who are peer pressured in to having sexual intercourse if they are not ready and for teens who are identifying as the opposite gender that they were born as. 16 References Department of Health. Guiding Principles for Sexual Health Education for Young People. (2010). https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/0206/guiding_principles.htm Department of Health. What You Need to Know about the Links Between HIV and STDs. (2013). https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/aids/consumers/hiv_basics/stds_hiv.htm Eske, Jamie. Can Men Become Pregnant? (2020). https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/canmen-become-pregnant#people-with-a-uterus-and-ovaries Evans, Joanne., Tolland, Laura. What is The Difference Between Sex and Gender? (2019). https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/whatisthedifferencebetweens exandgender/2019-02-21 Kidshelpline. Gender Identity. (2021). https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/gender-identity Teaching Sexual Health.ca. Sexual and Gender Diversity. (2020). https://teachingsexualhealth.ca/parents/information-by-topic/sexual-diversity/ Boardman, Domingue and Mollborn. Understanding Multiple Levels of Norms About Teen Pregnancy and Their Relationships to Teens’ Sexual Behaviors. (2014). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4120999/ Le, Benjamin. Social Influence and Teen Sex: What Matters and What Doesn’t. (2015). https://www.spsp.org/news-center/blog/social-influence-and-teen-sex 17 Ng, Stephanie V., M.D. Social Media and the Sexualization of Adolescent Girls. (2017). https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.2016.111206 AJMC. Vulnerable Populations: Who are They? (2006). https://www.ajmc.com/view/nov062390ps348-s352 Bernd, Colombini and Mayhew. Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs and Access to Services for Vulnerable Groups in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. (2011). https://eeca.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/vulnerable%20groups%20book_0.pdf As-Sanie, M.D., M.P.H., Gantt, M.D., M.P.H., and Rosenthal, M.D. Pregnancy Prevention in Adolescents. (2004). https://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/1015/p1517.html Collins, Rebecca L., Martino, Steven C., and ShawRand, Rebecca. (2011). Influence of New Media on Adolescent Sexual Health: Evidence and Opportunites. https://aspe.hhs.gov/basicreport/influence-new-media-adolescent-sexual-health-evidence-and-opportunities Douglas, J. M., Jr, & Fenton, K. A. (2013). Understanding sexual health and its role in more effective prevention programs. Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), 128 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549131282S101 Lumen. Social Context and Sexual Behavior. Retrieved May 06, 2021 from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cochise-sociology-os/chapter/social-context-and-sexualbehavior/ Pandia Health Editorial Team. (2021). Guide to Sexual Health. https://www.pandiahealth.com/resources/guide-to-sexual-health/

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