LONDON SEXUAL HEALTH PROGRAMME
Sexual Health for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Sexual Health Communications Strategy
For Sexual Health Commissioners, Sexual Health Leads and 2012 Leads
Page
1
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2
2. Communications Aims and Objectives
2
3. Themes for Sexual Health at Games Time
3
4. Key Messages
4
The Programme
5
5.
2012 Planning and Assurance Processes
5
6.
How to Find Services – Signposting
5
7.
NHS Choices
5
8.
The Extended Care (GU) Pathway Pilot Proposal
7
9.
The National Campaign
7
10.
Working with Young People
8
11.
Summer of 2012
8
12.
Overseas Visitors
8
14.
Legacy and Conclusions
9
Appendix One
Contact Information
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LONDON SEXUAL HEALTH PROGRAMME
Sexual Health for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Sexual Health Communications Strategy
For Sexual Health Commissioners, Sexual Health Leads and 2012 Leads
1.
Introduction
This document is an outline of the communications strategy around sexual
health for the duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It relates to
services nationally affected by the Games activity. It is intended as a working
document for commissioners of sexual health services, sexual health leads
and 2012 leads. It supports the 2012 Sexual Health Planning Template and
assurance processes that will be issued by NHS London. The template
outlines a consistent approach for sexual health services to plan for the
Games period.
Prior to large sporting events, there are always questions about the potential
increase in the number of sex workers. In response to this, the template
includes a detailed appendix on the needs assessment, service development
and commissioning of sexual health services for sex workers.
MBARC (formerly Michael Bell Associates) has been commissioned as the
delivery agent for the sexual health communications work by NHS London’s
Sexual Health Programme, funded by the Department of Health. All enquires
about sexual health communications should be addressed to MBARC. Their
contact information is at the back of this document.
The issues that may affect sexual health services relate to access due to
traffic during the Games, pressures of an increased population, and changes
in sexual behaviours as London celebrates the Games with visitors to London
from the rest of the country and abroad.
The Games offer an opportunity to engage with people about health, in
particular sexual health. Young people form a very important group and are
specifically addressed in the strategy.
There is still a great deal of work underway in relation to promoting sexual
health services during the Olympic and Paralympic games and updates will be
provided at regular intervals.
2.
Communication Aims and Objectives
The aims and objectives for communications around sexual health are as
follows.
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
To signpost UK residents and visitors to appropriate
sexual health services if and when required to manage
NHS demand

To provide key messages to encourage UK residents and
visitors to take steps to prevent sexual ill health during
the Games.
To maximise opportunities to increase the awareness of
UK resident of the different sexual health services
available to them.
To ensure consistency of messaging at Games time
across all stakeholders.
To ensure all communications support the key London
2012 sexual health programme themes of resilience,
transformation, and engagement.



A major awareness campaign by Durex and LOCOG (London Organising
Committee for the Olympic Games) will give a public profile to sexual health,
and sexual health services.
The general public will need to understand how and where to access services.
NHS Choices and pharmacies will play an important role in directing people to
appropriate services or, in the case of pharmacies, providing immediate
support when appropriate.
It is important that NHS Choices is up to date with local information. It is the
responsibility of service providers and sexual health commissioners to ensure
this happens to ensure this happens (see www.nhs.uk/yourpages).
3.
Themes for Sexual Health at Games Time
The three themes which have provided the backbone for the planning and
promoting of sexual health services during the games are:
Resilience - Safeguarding sexual health services during the games, ensuring
lower cost interventions and minimizing the call upon NHS resources.
Transformation – Using the development of resilience to transform services
and relationships between partners and stakeholders for lasting benefit in line
with QIPP (NHS Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention) principles.
Engagement - Maximizing public participation, particularly from young people
and raising awareness of personal responsibility and positive behavioral
changes to ensure good sexual health.
Source: MBARC
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When exploring these three themes with service commissioners and providers
it becomes clear that resilience is the theme attracting most focus - ensuring
‘business as usual’ so that sexual health services are not overly disrupted due
to the potential of increased demand. Changing clinic locations and times,
introducing hub services and generally dealing with challenging logistics
around traffic, distribution of supplies to pharmacies, and the unknowns of
meeting the needs of a large and temporary change in population have
presented the most immediate concern. Over and above this, basic supply
and demand issues such as the provision of condoms and emergency
hormonal contraception are also being considered.
Within this challenge lies opportunity and services and service commissioners
are looking at innovation and new alliances as solutions. Self-management is
becoming increasingly important in terms of the ‘transformation’ theme which
can vary from encouraging people to use pharmacies and NHS Choices as a
key portal to healthcare, to suggesting Apps which can help with selfdiagnosis. GUM clinics are encouraged to work synergistically and plan
services and clinic times across clusters.
Finally, there is a duty to engage with young people during this high profile
time, and MBARC has produced an engagement campaign that focuses on
Sex Factor Ideas 2012, a competition targeting young people. This also
affords an opportunity to engage the general public, and is an extra
component of the work underway.
4.
Key Messages
The key messages around sexual health that will appear on materials about
staying healthy during the Games are:
1.
Carrying condoms with you and using them all the time and every time
you have sex will help protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs),
HIV and pregnancy.
2.
If you are worried about unplanned pregnancy, STIs or HIV, visit a
pharmacy or check on NHS Choices for information about local sexual health
services and treatment.
3.
Early testing and treatment for HIV can help survival rate. An
estimated one in four people who have HIV do not know they have it. Have a
test.
.
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THE PROGRAMME
5.
2012 Planning and Assurance Processes
NHS London is circulating the 2012 sexual health planning template which
provide useful guidance in planning for the Games This template can be used
to feed into the 2012 assurance process to provide assurance that sexual
health services are Games ready.. .
 Recommendation
Sexual health commissioners and sexual health leads to liaise with their 2012
lead to feed their priorities and course of action to prepare for the Games into
the wider organisational planning.
6.
How to Find Services – Signposting
2012 leads, sexual health commissioners and sexual health leads are geared
up to ensure that sexual health services can deal with the pressures that
hosting the Games may place on them.
In order to make sure that people with concerns about their sexual health are
dealt with appropriately, the main signposting for sexual health services will
bevia NHS Choices and pharmacies.
Bespoke 2012 pages on NHS Choices have been developed to provide initial
information, symptom checking and details of where to access sexual health
services.
 Recommendations
Both NHS Choices and pharmacies should be promoted as the first place for
the general public who are asymptomatic to go for information. Those who
are symptomatic, should be referred for testing at the most appropriate
community sexual health or GUM service as soon as possible.
7.
NHS Choices
All central communications materials will direct residents and visitors to NHS
Choices 2012 pages www.nhs.uk/london2012 for their health concerns.
Visitors to the site with questions about sexual health will be able to access:
-
Access to NHS Direct symptom checkers which will direct them to
pharmacies or services, depending on their symptoms.
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-
Information about the different sexual health services and what they
provide to help people to choose the most appropriate service for
their needs.
-
Information about local sexual and reproductive health services
including opening times and venues.
NHS London soon will be circulating a planning template. These will include
information and actions to update NHS Choices.
 Recommendation
Sexual health commissioners and sexual health leads to liaise with their 2012
lead to feed their priorities and course of action to prepare for the Games into
the wider organisational planning.
Identify who will have responsibility for updating NHS Choices.
8.
The Extended Care (GU) Pathway Pilot Proposal
Pharmacies
NHSL and the London Sexual Health Programme are currently scoping out
this pilot proposal. Pharmacies would play a key role in this arrangement for
London during June, July, August and September. As part of this,
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pharmacists would receive training in providing increased sexual health
services.
 Recommendation
All communications work around sexual health to direct individuals to NHS
Choices and pharmacies in the first instance.
As well as the general messaging around staying healthy during Games time,
you may wish to do some promotional work explicitly encouraging people to
go to pharmacies as the ‘first stop’ for anyone needing condoms, emergency
hormonal contraception, testing for chlamydia or advice about symptoms.
Individuals may then be referred to GUM services or hub services (times and
clinic venues can be checked on NHS Choices)..
9.
The National Campaign
Durex and LOCOG will be running a high profile national campaign around
sexual health during the Olympics targeting the general population and linked
to the Olympic sites.
 Recommendation
Consider whether to increase promotional activity around sexual health during
the time of the Olympics and Paralympic games, and how. For example, it
might be beneficial to increase health promotion work that targets young
people and supports their exposure to the national campaign.
Concentrate on engagement with Durex campaign and focus on raising
awareness of appropriate service access and self-care.
Further information about the Durex/LOCOG campaign will be circulated by
NHS London nearer the time.
10.
Working with Young People - Sex Factor Ideas 2012
There is considerable emphasis on engagement with young people during the
Olympic and Paralympic games. MBARC is running a major national
competition targeting young people. Young people have been asked for their
creative suggestions for improving young people’s sexual health and sexual
health services. The winning ideas will be made into a reality, and the
runners-up will receive an internship at a major employer.
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While entries to the competition are London based, young people across the
UK have been encouraged to vote for their winners.
A media campaign about the shortlisted winners will begin in March 2012 and
continue until the winning products are promoted at Pride House in July 2012.
 Recommendation
2012 leads, sexual health commissioners and sexual health leads to
encourage local support for the Sex Factor winning ideas.
11.
Summer 2012
At 75,000 square metres on Clapham Common, Pride House is the second
largest Olympic house at the London Olympic and Paralympic games.
MBARC is working in partnership with a range of sponsors (including the
London Sexual Health Programme and the Pan London HIV Prevention
Partnership) and other service providers to deliver a Health and Wellbeing
Lounge at Pride House, which offers opportunities for health promotion
activity around sexual health and other health initiatives such as drug and
alcohol misuse and smoking cessation. While the main target will be the
LBGT community, there will be health support available to the wider
community.
The Health and Wellbeing Lounge will also provide signposting to existing
service provision across London.
 Recommendation
Check with your 2012 lead to see if there are any health promotion activities
or materials that you would like included in the Pride House Health and
Wellbeing Lounge.
Think about other events in your during the summer and how to ensure sexual
health messaging is included.
12.
Overseas Visitors
Overseas visitors will receive information about staying healthy before and
during the Games that directs them to NHS Choices for more information.
As at any other time overseas visitors can access sexual health services free
of charge, however, any medical follow-up service required will be
chargeable.
 Recommendation
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2012 leads, sexual health commissioners and sexual health leads to liaise to
ensure that service providers operate a ‘business as usual’ approach during
Games time and the summer of 2012.
13.
Legacy and Conclusions
There are several strands to the legacy that the 2012 Olympics and
Paralympic games hopes to leave in terms of London’s sexual health.
The first is: no legacy. Ideally, the sexual health of the general population will
not decline during Games time as it seems to have at the Sydney and Beijing
Olympics. This means no increase in unplanned pregnancy and no increase
in STIs or HIV rates. The main work of the communications campaign is that
of signposting and prevention.
The other legacy is that of innovation. This is an opportunity to explore using
NHS Choices and pharmacies as a point of triage, work with developing the
role of pharmacists and also venture into technological approaches like apps
to check symptoms. Service planning is also demonstrating innovation. NHS
clusters are exploring working together to deliver out of hours coverage, put in
place hub services and overcome the challenges placed on their
infrastructure. These can provide useful lessons for the future.
Finally, and most optimistically, it is an opportunity to improve young people’s
sexual health. Being healthy and fit, understanding what good sexual health
is and how life enhancing this can be is a great gift. Young people have
responded with a number of innovative and fun ideas to the Sex Factor Ideas
2012 Competition.
The Games offer a chance for all of us to aspire to physical health and well
being, and sexual health is a major reward - as well as a key component - of
those two things.
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APPENDIX 1
CONTACT INFORMATION
MBARC produces a regular monthly newsletter giving an overview about
sexual health promotion and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. To receive
a copy please email Jennifer Reiter at jennifer.reiter@mbarc.co.uk.
MBARC (formerly Michael Bell Associates)
MBARC
MBARC
94 White Lion Street
London N1 9PF
Head of Sexual Health
Programmes
Stephen Bitti
Stephen.Bitti@mbarc.co.uk
Telephone: 020 7407 4010
Sexual Health
Manager
Gareth Davies
Gareth.Davies@mbarc.co.uk
Telephone: 020 7407 4010
Sexual Health
Projects Coordinator
Jennifer Reiter
Jennifer.Reiter@mbarc.co.uk
Telephone: 020 7407 4010
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