Promoting And Celebrating Optimal Sexual And Reproductive Health (SRH)
WHISE has worked with partners and stakeholders through the regional network, Good Health Down South, to enhance access to high-quality, safe, and respectful sexual and reproductive health services that are free from stigma, racism and discrimination as well as evidence-based health promotion information. In addition to delivering community-based programs, we have improved the skills, knowledge and confidence of our regional health workforce to deliver best practice sexual and reproductive health testing, treatment and care for women, girls and gender diverse people.
Consent Matters Project
Delivering three pilot workshops, with over 100 practitioners in total, provided professionals with the skills to respond to disclosures and refer victim-survivors to appropriate support services.
Together with Sexual Health Victoria, WHISE delivered a pilot program to increase knowledge and understanding of affirmative consent legislation and principles among youth and community service professionals, to enhance their knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver primary prevention information, support and resources for young people to understand and engage in respectful, equitable and consensual, sex and relationships.
The program comprised the co-design, iterative piloting and evaluation of a comprehensive training program, featuring online modules and a full-day workshop with youth and community workers in metropolitan and rural Victoria, supported by Women's Health Loddon Mallee, the Multicultural Health Support Service and Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health, municipal youth services in the City of Greater Dandenong and Cardinia Shire, the Zoe Belle Gender Collective and the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria.
Through the delivery of Consent Matters, Sexual Health Victoria and WHISE improved outcomes for young people who are disengaged from mainstream education and thus, may not have access to the Respectful Relationships program. The pilot program was successful in increasing professional understanding of sex-positive and trauma-informed approaches to education and support, health relationships and teaching strategies for affirmative consent.
Webinar – Egg Freezing as Assisted Reproductive Technology
Egg freezing received increased attention on social media and in the news as a fertility preservation tool for women and people assigned female at birth. To support consumers to thoroughly understand the financial costs, the efficacy or success rate, and the physical and emotional demands of egg freezing and encourage informed decision-making, WHISE worked with the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA) to host a webinar in September 2023.
185 people registered to hear from Dr Karin Hammarberg, Associate Professor Michelle Peate, and Joanna Anagnostou. With a clearer understanding of the potential benefits and limitations of egg freezing, one participant noted that it’s important to be “mindful not to be influenced by information provided by social media and women do need to be well informed and educated before making a decision to egg freeze.”
Affirmative Consent Webinar – Joint PVAW SRH Activity
“I provide sexuality and consent education, but this webinar reinforced the obligation we have as health professions and teachers to discuss this information. This helped to instil greater confidence to have these conversations (in age-appropriate ways), even if there is backlash.”
In October 2023, WHISE hosted a two-hour webinar on affirmative consent with Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang, authors of “Welcome to Consent” and “Welcome to Sex”. Almost 400 people registered for the webinar and 195 attended the live event, featuring Vanessa Hamilton, founder of Talking the Talk Healthy Sexuality Education and Anne Atcheson from Sexual Health Victoria, on the affirmative consent pilot, “Consent Matters” Program.
The webinar was jointly hosted by the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Sexual and Reproductive Health portfolios; and sought to increase practitioners’ knowledge of the connections between gender equity, primary prevention of violence, and sexual and reproductive health outcomes, as well as the current context of changes to consent legislation.
Menopause
Hot topic: a free public webinar on menopause and how to manage
In September 2022, WHISE delivered a webinar titled "Hot topic: A free public webinar on menopause and how to manage," in partnership with the Victorian Women's Health Network, the Women's Spirit Project, the Victorian Women's Trust and the Epworth Hospital. The event received over 250 registrations and over 150 people attended the webinar live, exceeding our expectations and demonstrating significant community interest and need in this topic. WHISE subsequently reached out to partners and stakeholders, as well as people with lived experience of peri- and menopause who attended the webinar, inviting them to register their interest in a working group on peri- and menopause.
Menopause Working Group
The inaugural menopause working group meeting was held in November 2022, and resulted in the ideation and development of two key projects for delivery: a case study examining the impact of policies introduced by employers to support people experiencing peri- and menopause in the workplace, and community-based information sessions designed to increase participants' knowledge of peri- and menopause and their confidence to navigate the healthcare system for symptom management. The case study was published in October 2023 and features qualitative data from interviews with Modibodi and Future Super. The information sessions, of which we initially intended to deliver four, were scheduled from June to October 2023, and in total 19 sessions were held with over 340 participants.
Your Mind on Menopause
WHISE has subsequently also delivered a webinar on "Your Mind on Menopause", examining the impact of peri- and menopause on mental health and wellbeing and supported the professional development of our menopause working group members through presentations from key knowledge experts such as Wendy Tuohy from The Age, Professor Amanda Vincent from Monash University, Dr Andrea Binks from Wollongong Hospital, Dr Karin Stanzel from Monash University and Dr Alex Hawkey, Western Sydney University.
An article published by Wendy Tuohy contains some of the key topics and areas discussed in the above meetings - Menopause and perimenopause: women advocating for more open discussion of this major life change as a way to end the stigma at work (smh.com.au)
Case Study on Workplace Policy for Menopause
Due for publication in October 2023, this project seeks to profile organisations or multiple organisations that have successfully implemented or are implementing workplace policies to support employees experiencing perimenopausal or menopausal symptoms. The case study highlights promising practice as well as capturing the challenges and barriers, enablers, and success of developing and implementing menopause workplace policies.
An Introduction to Reproductive Coercion and Primary Prevention
In February 2023, WHISE delivered a webinar on reproductive coercion, as part of our efforts to improve sexual and reproductive health and prevent violence against women, with148 participants registering to learn about a form of gender-based violence incorporating behaviours designed to control pregnancy and reproductive health outcomes, termed reproductive coercion.
The session featured a panel of knowledge experts including Associate Professor Laura Tarzia from the University of Melbourne, Desireé LaGrappe from La Trobe University, Helen Freris from Women with Disabilities Victoria, and the Multicultural Centre for Women's Health.
A Webinar on PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and the Weight of Stigma
SOCIAL VALUE IMPACT:
Program Name : PCOS and Weight of Stigma - online forum
Net Benefit to Community : $27,259.
The net benefit per participant is $3,407.
Benefit Cost Ratio : 2.24
Social Impact as calculated through the Australia Social Value Bank for the delivery of the Critical Friends Network.
The values used in this cost benefit analysis have been derived using the wellbeing valuation method from data gathered through the HILDA (Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) and Journeys Home Survey.
In June 2023, WHISE delivered an online information session on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), featuring Dr Rhonda Garad from Monash University and the City of Greater Dandenong council, as well as a lived experience speaker, Kira, from Beautiful, Talented, Deadly, an online platform from which they raise awareness about health issues including PCOS and mental health.
The session was designed to bridge the gap in understanding of PCOS among healthcare providers, community, and youth workers, and those personally affected by the condition. The webinar debunked common myths and explored comprehensive care options.
This event was timed to coincide with the forthcoming release of new diagnostic and management guidelines for PCOS, which promise to bring further clarity and direction in the detection and management of this often-misunderstood condition.
Roe v Wade
The Victorian Women's Health Services issues a collective response condemning the overturning of Roe v Wade, expressing solidarity with women and people with a uterus in the United States and calling upon the state and federal governments throughout Australia to expand the provision of affordable abortion through adequate funding and prioritisation of women's sexual and reproductive health.
The overturning of Roe v Wade through the Supreme Court not only resulted in an effective ban on abortion in multiple states across the United States of America but highlighted several key gaps in current service provision and access for women and people with a uterus in Victoria. WHISE issued an additional press release and was invited by community radio station 3CR to go on air and chat about these developments.
Early Medical Abortion Capacity-Building
WHISE, in partnership with Women's Health East and Gippsland Women's Health and supported by EACH, Sexual Health Victoria, the Royal Women's Hospital, Peninsula Health, 1800 My Options, the Gippsland Primary Health Network and the Multicultural Centre for Women's Health, delivered two webinars for doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacists on early medical abortion in June and July 2023.
The first webinar focused on the processes for prescribing, dispensing, and supporting patients through medical abortion, and attracted 161 registrations and 80 attendees. The second webinar, focused on establishing provision in community settings, responding to reproductive coercion and post-procedure presentations, received 109 registrations and 42 attendees.
Development of Consent Matters pilot program with Sexual Health Victoria in 2023
Our organisations have partnered with Youth Affairs Council (YAC) Vic, Women's Health Loddon Mallee, Zoe Belle Gender Collective, the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health, municipal youth services and other organisations
WHISE and Sexual Health Victoria were among the recipients of funding from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, to deliver a project aligned with the new affirmative consent legislation in Victoria.
Together we designed and delivered capacity-building for youth and community services professionals in relation to affirmative consent, including the implications of the recent legislative changes.
Professional Capacity & Competency Building
Sexual and reproductive health capacity-building for bicultural workers
In March 2023, WHISE delivered a capacity-building workshop on sexual and reproductive health for bicultural workers, to build the knowledge, skills, and confidence of the existing bicultural workforce to disseminate evidence-based information about medical abortion, contraception, and sexually transmissible infections to culturally and linguistically diverse communities in the Southern Metropolitan Region. This event was delivered in partnership with the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health, Hepatitis Victoria/LiverWELL, Peninsula Health and Monash Health Community, supported by the City of Greater Dandenong, with 44 registered.
Cultural competency training for allied health and health promotion practitioners
WHISE partnered with the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health to deliver cultural competency training to health practitioners, health promotion professionals and policymakers in November 2022. The session, supported by the City of Casey, sought to build the capacity of practitioners to provide culturally appropriate, safe, and inclusive services and messaging for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
The training included information about the social determinants and lived experiences that may impact the health of migrants, refugees and CALD people in Australia, the cultural beliefs and values that may impact on health behaviours, the sexual and reproductive health issues affecting CALD communities in Australia, and the teach-back technique which is useful for working with people from CALD backgrounds. The training was attended by 39 people.
SOCIAL VALUE IMPACT:
Program Name: Cultural Competency training for Allied Health and Health Promotion
Net Benefit to Community : $106,508.
The net benefit per participant is $5,606
Benefit Cost Ratio : 11.23
Social Impact as calculated through the Australia Social Value Bank for the delivery of the Critical Friends Network.
The values used in this cost benefit analysis have been derived using the wellbeing valuation method from data gathered through the HILDA (Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) and Journeys Home Survey.
Health Planners Forums
To build the capacity of health planners working in local government settings across the Southern Metropolitan Region, WHISE delivered two forums in partnership with the Department of Health in June and July 2023.
The purpose of these forums was to increase knowledge and understanding of the role of councils in implementing health promotion activities, policies, and campaigns to improve sexual and reproductive health.
Following the delivery of these forums, WHISE has designed and disseminated tailored resources to each of the councils in our region, to support the integration and alignment of sexual and reproductive health within municipal planning.