Getting Tested: HIV, STD & Pregnancy Lesson 4-6

Bell Ringer  Get out Student Journal, Lesson 9 Journal Entry:  Write a few sentences about what you would do if you thought you might have an STD. What symptoms would you look for? How would you feel? Where would you go or whom would you talk to?

Scenario Aidan and Lena have been together for 6 months and recently decided they wanted to make sex a part of their relationship. They’ve both been in sexual relationships before. They understand that there are risks that come with being sexually active and want to be sexually responsible. What kinds of things do Aidan and Lena have to think about, talk about, and do before they have sex together? Make a list of key points on the board

Scenario Continued  Sexually responsible people like Adian and Lena recognize the possible consequences of sexual activity and are willing to take steps to lower their risk for unintended pregnancy and STD, including HIV.  Part of being responsible is getting tested for HIV and other STD before having sex with a new partner.

Knowing STD/HIV Status Jess and Julian had been having sex for a few weeks before the relationship fizzed out. Afterward, Jess began to think that being with Julian hadn’t been such a wise thing to do. Jess went to some websites to learn more about HIV and other STDs and even took an online quiz. The quiz showed that some of the things Jess and Julian had done were risky for HIV and other STDs. Now Jess is really worried. The websites all say to get tested. Jess knows it’s the right thing to do, but has a lot of questions and feelings about it.

Ask & Discuss  How do you imagine Jess is feeling and why?  Jess is in a situation that can cause a lot of strong feelings  Worry  Embarrassment  Fear  Shame  Sadness  Being in that situation can be very difficult, and strong feelings can make it harder to take action to find out more information and get the facts.  Based on what you know about HIV and other STDs, what is Jess risking by doing nothing?  Why is it important for Jess to find out his or her HIV and STD status?

What They Should Have Done  Jess and Julian should have been tested before having sex with each other.  If Jess does nothing now, there’s the risk of having serious health consequences and possibly giving HIV or other STDs to someone else in the future.  Getting Tested = smart and sexually responsible  If tests are negative – she can take steps to make safer choices in the future (setting personal limits, talking about sexual risks, using a condom).  If tests are positive – she can get tested as soon as possible and learn how to protect others from getting infected.

Activity  Groups of 3: Handout Testing Fact Sheets (HIV, STD, and Pregnancy)  Page 28 in workbook – What to Know About Testing  Become the expert of your test by reading the handout.  Complete the section for your test individually and then share what you learned with the rest of your group.  About 10 minutes to work on your test individually.  5 minutes for sharing with your group.

Review  What do you think about teens getting tested for HIV, other STD or pregnancy without their parents’ consent?  Whom would you talk with if you thought you needed to be tested?  What are some reasons a person might not get tested even if he or she had participated in risky behaviors, such as having sex without a latex condom?  What would you say to a friend who was sexually active but had never been tested for HIV or other STD?  How could you convince you friend of the importance of getting tested?

Getting Tested  How do you know if a person has HIV? How do they test to see if a person has another STD? How do they test for pregnancy?  Getting tested is often the only way to know your STD or HIV status  The sooner you know the sooner you can take steps to reduce your risk of getting infected in the future if the results are negative, or take steps to get treated, stay healthy, and protect your partner if the results are positive.  Getting tested is the sexually responsible thing to do!!! How long does it take to get the results of HIV test? Another STD test? Pregnancy test? What’s the difference between anonymous and confidential testing?

Importance of Counseling  What kind of counseling is provided with the various tests?  Health clinics or community outreach centers that offer testing almost always also offer the services and support of health professionals or specially trained STD/HIV counselors.  These experts can help people recognize whether they are at risk,provide accurate information about STD/HIV, offer support during the testing process, and assist with the next steps a person needs to take following either negative or positive results.  Counselors can help a person prepare for testing, understand the results and take steps to stay healthy and protect others in the future.  They can advise people with a negative test result on how to stay negative.  They can help people who test positive access treatment and other resources.  Offer support and resources to the family and partners of someone who tests positive.

Explain  Sometimes people don’t go for testing because they don’t know where to go or how to find a clinic that provides the services they need.  Fortunately, there are resources available of people who want more information or health services related to HIV, other STD, or pregnancy.  Lets brainstorm a list of people and places that might be resources for you if you had more questions about HIV, other STD, and pregnancy, or wanted to be tested. List their responses on the board

Resources  Hotlines  Websites  Library  School nurse  School counselor  Family friend who’s in the medical field  Health department clinic  Community clinic  Planned Parenthood  Local Hospital Clinic  School-based Clinic When it comes to your sexual health, it’s important to get your information and support from reliable resources. A resource is reliable if it can be trusted to provide you with accurate, up-to-date and unbiased information. Verified, or shown to be true, by another source. The information is accurate and up to date. It’s from a recognized government, medical, or professional organization or other well documented and reputable group.

Not Reliable  It’s in the popular media – newspaper, magazine, TV.  It’s from a website not sponsored by a government or professional organization.  The information is different from most other sources.  It’s trying to sell you a product or point of view.  If a resource isn’t trustworthy, you won’t know if the information you get is true.  Inaccurate or out-of-date information could be harmful or lead someone to a wrong decision.

Community Resources  HANDOUT – Community Testing sites  Go over it with the class  Take home for you to keep!!!

Close  You’ve been learning a lot of facts about pregnancy, HIV, and other STD during this lesson.  In what ways has finding out more about the testing process added to your understanding of how to protect your own sexual health and the sexual health of any current or future sexual partners?