September 2022: Issue 9

This newsletter was developed (in part) with federal funds from the Office of Population Affairs. For more information on the rules and regulations that apply to our programs, please visit
The Wyoming Health Council works to ensure that all people can access safe, unbiased, high-quality sexual and reproductive health care.
The American Health Association defines sexual health as the ability to embrace and enjoy our sexuality throughout our lives.

It is a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality, according to the World Health Organization, 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.

Being sexually healthy means:
  • Understanding that sexuality is a natural part of life and involves more than sexual behavior.
  • Recognizing and respecting the sexual rights we all share.
  • Having access to sexual health information, education, and care.
  • Making an effort to prevent unintended pregnancies and Sexual Transmitted Infections (STIs) and seek care and treatment when needed.
  • Being able to experience sexual pleasure, satisfaction, and intimacy when desired.
  • Being able to communicate about sexual health with others including sexual partners and healthcare providers.

The theme for Sexual Health Awareness Month 2022 is
"Let's Talk Pleasure," so let's talk!
Providers most likely already know how to ask the 5 P's: Partners, Practice, Protection from STIs, Past history of STIs and Pregnancy Prevention. But asking a 6th P, Pleasure, is super important as well!
Below are some great resources for providers!
For Providers: Sexual Health and Your Patient’s A Providers Guide

Sexual health is an essential element of overall health and well-being, yet providers and patients often do not discuss this topic, unless of course you are apart of Title X or another Family Planning clinic environment!

Many patients want to discuss their sexual health with you, and most want you to bring it up. By asking all your adult and adolescent patients a few essential questions, you help to remove the stigma around discussing sex and normalize these discussions.
Compendium of Sexual and Reproductive Health Resources for Healthcare Providers

This compendium was created to help primary care providers and others improve their clinical skills in this area by compiling existing resources on sexual and reproductive health topics across the lifespan.

Practical, high quality resources found in this compendium include the following:
  • Webinars, videos, and other online trainings, many of which grant continuing education units
  • Toolkits and implementation guides
  • Skill-building tools, such as checklists, screeners, and self-assessments
  • Curricula and more
Sex Education should include discussions about Pleasure!
Pleasure and Protection: Why Sex Ed Programs Should Teach About Both

Sexual education often focuses on all the things that can go wrong in sex, like unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

However, researchers say that sex ed may be more effective when sexual pleasure is also a part of these conversations.
According to the authors of a new study  in the journal PLOS One, when educators acknowledge that enjoyment is often a primary objective of sex, it helps improve people’s knowledge and attitudes about sex.

Their research also indicates that it leads to safer sex practices and improves compliance with condom use.
The Pleasure Project

The Pleasure Project provides training and consultancy for sexual health professionals and sexuality educators and others who want to take a more sex-positive and pleasure-based approach to their work.

We have contributed to evidence generation on pleasure, safer sex and agency through our research and publications. We also help erotic media producers to incorporate sexy safer sex into porn films and other media.
With Pleasure: A View of Whole Sexual Anatomy for Every Body

But from a standpoint of pleasure and sexual response, sexual anatomy is about far more than genitals and is far less about reproductive organs. Ultimately, all the parts and systems of the body are potential sexual organs in the context of pleasure.

Seeing our sexual anatomy through the lens of pleasure can dismantle myths about sexual response, gender or sex binaries or sexual orientation 
stereotypes; can let us discover parts of our bodies or ways they functioned we didn’t even know we could cultivate a tangible awareness of. It can tell the truth that for most people, most of the time, the pursuit of solo or partnered sex is often about the pursuit of emotional and physical pleasure, not about a desire to breed, and that the form of that pursuit is as diverse as we are.

Pleasure is a big and vital part of most of our lives, including sexual pleasure, and the anatomical basics of sexual pleasure need be no more a mystery than where babies come from. (Of course, not everyone wants to or can have babies by using their genitals to do it, so the focus on reproduction leaves a lot of us out of the pleasure part, even when we don’t need to be left out.)
Consent & Pleasure Go Hand-In-Hand. Why Doesn’t Anyone Talk About That?

Today, as a consent and pleasure educator, I teach students what I wish I’d learned growing up: that these two concepts go hand-in-hand and are both keys to a satisfying sexual experience. Too often consent is taught as a checkbox — an obstacle a partner needs to get past to gain access to sex. Consent, of course, is mandatory in any sexual experience, and I’m relieved that it is being more widely discussed.

However, like sex education in general, it is often discussed solely focused on avoiding risks, including sexual assault. This is important, but we also need real and practical talk about consent in all relationships, pleasure, and sex, for safer and more ethical connections. When we move past our tendencies to focus on the mechanics of sexual acts, we set ourselves up to have satisfying sexual and intimate relationships.
Sexual Health and Pleasure is for everyone!
How to Have Sex if You're Queer: What to Know About Protection, Consent, and What Queer Sex Means

Rarely does traditional sex education tackle pleasure for pleasure’s sake, how to have sex for non-reproductive purposes, or the wide spectrums of sexualities, bodies, and genders that exist. Instead it tends to cover penis-in-vagina penetration only, pregnancy risks, and STI/STD transmission, leaning heavily on scare tactics that may not even work...

Let’s talk about what classic sex education might’ve missed about how to have sex if you're queer, from what sex between queer people means to how to keep it safe and consensual between the rainbow sheets.
A Disabled Persons Guide to Talking with Your Partner(s) About Sex

When we meet someone who we are interested in as a sexual and/or romantic partner, we need to have these conversations so that we and our partners can have the best and the safest time possible. It's so important to be able to tell our partners how to support and pleasure us in the ways that work for us (and that we learn what feels good for them). Even though we’ve got all that practice, this conversation can still be really hard to start.

 It might help to think of it as an opportunity to have control over your body, your pleasure, because that's what it is! These conversations can make it easier to relax in your body, which is key to enjoying yourself. They can help prevent harm, physical and otherwise, to you or your partner.  Conversations about desires and limitations can also be a good opportunity to share any fears that you or your partners might have, and allow space for genuine and respectful questions and mutual intimacy and enjoyment.
The Wyoming Health Council is excited to present 
Your Body, Your Life,
a Reproductive and Sexual Health Care Zoom Series for Wyoming!
 
As you may know, Wyoming schools are not required to provide sex education to students, leaving school districts to decide what type of sex education–if any at all–they provide to youth. SIECUS
 
Our Title X clinics know well the limitations they face from school administrations if they are even allowed into the schools to educate. This is why, in an effort to support our Title X clinics in providing reproductive and sexual health education to their communities, the Wyoming Health Council has created an educational series that is medically accurate, comprehensive and inclusive. Our series will be presented by Emma Burton-Hopkins, MHE, CHES who is the Communicable Disease Manager, Health Education Specialist, Ryan White CARE Case Manager/ Wyoming AETC from the Casper- Natrona County Health Department!
 
 
Class One: Reproductive Anatomy
Sept. 14th @ 5pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
 
Class Two: STD’s/STI’s
Oct 12th @ 5pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
 
 
Class Three: Family Planning
Nov 9th @ 5pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
 
 
Class Four: Gender and Health
Dec 14th @ 5pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
 
Register for One or ALL!
 
This series is geared towards adults, parents, educators, college aged adults and teenagers.

We hope you will join and share with clients, partners and other organizations who would be interested and benefit from the zoom series!
 
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Wyoming Health Council!
Registration links can also be found on WYHC.ORG an social media platforms!
 
........World Contraception Day........
Sept 26th

World Contraception Day is an annual global campaign to improve awareness of modern contraception and to enable individuals to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health.

And according to the Guttmacher Institute, approximately 218 million women of reproductive age (15–49) in low and middle income countries have an unmet need for modern contraception—that is, they want to avoid a pregnancy but are not using a modern method. About half (49%) of pregnancies in these countries—111 million annually—are unintended.

Improving access to family planning and reproductive health services globally can help reduce unintended pregnancies, prevent maternal deaths, support opportunities for education and employment! KFF
........Female Condom Day.......
Sept 16

Female Condom Day, September 16th, is an opportunity to raise awareness of women's education and empowerment to take control of their reproductive health and STI prevention around the world.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), among the 1.9 billion Women of Reproductive Age group (15-49 years) worldwide in 2019, 1.1 billion have a need for family planning; of these, 842 million are using contraceptive methods, and 270 million have an unmet need for contraception.
  • The female condom is still the ONLY dual protection method that is under the full control of the woman.
  • Female condoms save lives, and they provide women and girls around the world with an additional option to protect themselves against STIs, including HIV and Zika, as well as unplanned pregnancies. fc2

Bisexuality Week Sept 17-24
Bisexuality Visibility Day Sept 23

Let's get a definition! The Bisexual Resource Center uses “bisexual” and “bi+” as umbrella terms for people who recognize and honor their potential for sexual and emotional attraction to more than one gender (bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, fluid, queer, asexual, and other free-identifiers). They celebrate and affirm the diversity of identity and expression regardless of labels.
Bisexuality Visibility Day: What it means to be bi+ and how you can support and celebrate the community

If you're wondering why we need a separate day specifically devoted to the bisexual+ community, consider this: Even though bi+ people make up around half of the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S., studies show they face pervasive biases in their communities, families, and society at large...

In honor of Bisexual Visibility Day, we've rounded up resources to help support the bi+ community in every way, including clearing up misconceptions about what bisexuality means; supporting the unique mental health struggles of the community; and how those who identify as bi+ can cultivate stronger bonds with more like-minded folks.
Sexual Health Tips for the Bi+ Community and Best Practices For Providers

To ensure that you’re getting the right care, it’s important to be honest with your healthcare provider about your sexual orientation and sexual behaviors. This may feel challenging if you don’t currently have health insurance or if you’re not sure if your provider is bi+ affirming. Below are a few tips that can help, and they apply not only when you’re accessing sexual healthcare, but also any other type of care related to your relationships and sex life, such as therapy, fertility, and primary care...

Bi+ patients are less likely to come out to healthcare providers than lesbians or gay men. This lower rate of disclosure among bi+ patients is likely influenced by the amount of bisexual erasure and bi+ antagonisim that the bi+ community frequently experiences in broader society. As a result of not disclosing, the health of bi+ patients may suffer since their health needs are unique. You can help change this by following the guidelines below...
National Suicide Prevention Month
and
National Recovery Month
Wyoming Struggles For Answers Amid Growing
Suicide Rate
U.S. suicide rates are the highest they’ve been since World War II. At 30.5 per 100,000 persons in 2020, Wyoming’s rate is more than double that of the national average and the highest rate per capita in the nation, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.

Wyoming, accounting for its land mass, is the tenth largest state in the country; by population, it’s the smallest. So, even if you wanted help – help might be a long way from you.

Andrea Summerville, the executive director of the Wyoming Association of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Centers, showed ABC News’ Trevor Ault the area right outside of Casper. She pointed out miles and miles of sweeping plains with very few people in sight. “You’ll hit a major town about every hundred miles. And when I say a town, I mean a town of 5,000 people,” she said. “You might get a call from somebody that's 100 miles away from the nearest town, but you might also just not have the mental health professionals. Wyoming has been a mental health professional shortage area, always, designated by the Rural Health Agency. The entire state. Not just an area, not just a town, but the entire state.”
Wyoming Cowboys Open Up About Addiction and Suicide

“Cowboys are supposed to be tough, we’re born and raised to be independent and not rely on anyone, and a lot of stuff we do is on our own,” says Rand Selle.
“We don’t have that communication skill to go elsewhere and talk and share our emotions and I kind of think a lot of us struggle with that.”

All too often, this bottling up ends in tragedy.
“We deal a lot with friends and family that are cowboys that have passed away, either by suicide or have an alcohol or drug addiction.”
Mental Health Helpline Just for Farmers and Ranchers Launches in Five States- Wyoming

According to Centers for Disease Control data, rates of suicide among farmers are 1.5 times higher than the national average. With the hope of being able to support farmers and ranchers that may be struggling with their mental health, an agriculturally focused help hotline pilot program has launched in five states.

The AgriStress Helpline for Ranchers and Farmers is staffed 24 hours every day. Unlike the federal crisis number, 988, and other crisis lines across the nation, AgriStress staff goes through a program that teaches members to deal with farmer-specific issues.

The AgriStress Hotline is available in Wyoming at
#833-897-2474.
#BeThe1To

#BeThe1To is the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s message for National Suicide Prevention Month and beyond, which helps spread the word about actions we can all take to prevent suicide. The Lifeline network and its partners are working to change the conversation from suicide to suicide prevention, to actions that can promote healing, help and give hope.
The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people.
TEXT 'START' to 678-678
or Call at 1-866-488-7386
StrongHearts Native Helpline
1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483)
is a 24/7 safe, confidential and anonymous domestic, dating and sexual violence helpline for Native Americans and Alaska Natives, offering culturally-appropriate support and advocacy.
WYOMING HEALTH COUNCIL
111 S. Durbin, Suite 200
Casper, WY 82601

Call Us: (307) 439-2033