Over 50% of high school seniors will be sexually active by the time they graduate. Of those who are sexually active, 1 in 4 will have had a sexually transmitted disease. It's because of these statistics, that it's vital for area schools to utilize the knowledge and expertise of the educators at Women's Health Services. Whether it be reaching children at an early age in the elementaries, discussing the changes they can expect during puberty, or having frank discussions with teenage students about the perils of sexual activity in a world fraught with disease, the message of abstinence and safety provided by our health educator is invaluable.

Every year, the health educator at Women's Health Services gives more than 500 programs, achieving as many as 10,000 contacts with students throughout east central Iowa and northwest Illinois. The staff at Women's Health Services pride themselves on providing students factual information they can apply to their own lives.

Covering 4th through 12th grades, as well as some local colleges, Kelly Jacobsen, teaches on a variety of issues, offering many different activities for the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Elementary - 4th & 5th Grades
Human Growth & Development: this curriculum covers the changes children will experience when they go through adolescence. This curriculum was designed in conjunction with the Clinton School District.

Middle School - 6th-8th Grades
This can be a very crucial time for students to come together with our health educators and discuss issues they are beginning to face. Whether it be pressure to skip class or have sex, students at the middle school level are on the cusp of adulthood and the decisions they make today can have a lasting impact on their future. As a result, Kelly has a variety of activities focusing on good decision-making as well as looking at the consequence of their actions. Depending on what the teacher or principal requests, our health educators also discuss the importance of abstinence, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

High School & College
No educator or healthcare professional wants to see a teenager become pregnant, but unfortunately, the majority of teenagers in the United States are sexually active. Recent studies by the World Health Organization found that sex education offering a mix of both abstinence and birth control information does not increase a child's of becoming sexually active. In fact, in most of the WHO studies, it showed such education decreased the amount of sexually activity because students said they were given a choice. At Women's Health Services, we only provide the information requested. If a principal or educator only wants an STD presentation, we won't be discussing birth control. The way our activities are designed, Women's Health Services can cover any topic in as little or as much detail as requested by the school district.

The programs we offer include:

• Abstinence & Refusal Skills;
• Relationship; Barrier & Hormonal Methods of Birth Control;
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases & Infections;
• The Sexual Touch Continuum-The difference between healthy & harmful touch;
• For My Friend I Would-How far would you go for a friend;
• HIV/AIDS Discussion (we have a variety of activities and videos available);
• The Perils of Teen Pregnancy (teen moms and dads talk frankly about their lives);
• Breast Self-Examine & Testicular Self-Examine.

Parenting & Maturation Issues
In addition to school-based programming, Women's Health Services offers additional presentations on a variety of parenting issues as well as women's health issues while continuing to develop new activities to our clinic's ever-growing client base.

• Communicating With Your Child About Sex
• Pre-Menstrual Syndrome-It's Not in Your Head
• Before Sperm & Egg Meet-Things to Know About Conception
• Menopause
• Osteoporosis

The educator at Women's Health Services provides these services year-round in schools and churches, to civic and service groups, and for any individual or organization that would like information on various health issues.

LOCATIONS:

Bettendorf:
4480 Utica Ridge Rd.
Suite 2236
Bettendorf, Iowa 52722
800-664-1413
Fax: 563-242-9992