Connecting International Students with Sexual & Reproductive Health Information
Ms Maddison Stratten1, Ms Anju Devkota1
1NSW Health, , Australia
The International Student Health Hub is an online platform for international students to access reliable sexual and reproductive health information, resources and website referrals. The initial development of the Hub drew on current literature and international student consultations to ensure the project was evidence-based, collaborative and co-designed. Online consultations were conducted with 186 NSW based international students with diverse demographics and informed the Hub’s content and design. Participants described their level of sexual health knowledge as average, identifying STIs, cost of services, HIV and the Australian health system as topics of importance. Reproductive health knowledge was self-rated as very low, low or average with Overseas Student Health Cover and cost of contraception and healthcare services as specific knowledge gaps. Ongoing monitoring of the Hub’s Google analytics confirms this consultation data. The most viewed page besides ‘Home’ is ‘Sex and Sexual Health’ including STIs, HIV and safer sex information. The behaviour flow recorded through page pathways identifies that after a viewer visits ‘Sex and Sexual Health’, they move to ‘Overseas Student Health Cover’ including information on cost and private health funds. Further demonstrating the importance of these topics is the most popular pages based on time spent; ‘Sex and Sexual Health’, ‘Australian Healthcare System’ and ‘Contraception and Pregnancy ’. The growth and innovation of the Hub built on the established consortium of government and non-government partners. From these partnerships, a Hub Advisory Group was formed for continued content development, international student engagement, communication strategies and evaluation.
Biography:
Maddison Stratten is a health promotion officer with the HIV and Related Programs (HARP) unit in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District. Maddy has a Bachelor in Public Health major in Health Promotion (UOW), Master of International Public Health (USYD), and a passion for empowering and connecting marginalised communities with consistent sexual and reproductive health messages. As a co-leader for NSW Play Safe Programs International Students, Maddy has enjoyed the collaborative and co-design nature of developing and maintaining resources with/ for international students such as the International Student Health Hub.