15 October 2009
NHS East Midlands has joined forces with the Government Office for the East Midlands and the East Midlands Further Education Council to lead a one-day conference on sexual health in further education.
The ‘Healthy Learners – High Achievers’ conference took place at Pride Park in Derby and was attended by around 130 people ranging from college principals and student services and support managers to teenage pregnancy co-ordinators.
The event was aimed at developing plans for colleges in the region to improve access to contraception and sexual health and relationship advice, thereby reducing the chances of learners not completing their studies due to health problems.
In 2009/10 the Government is providing £2m under the Healthy Further Education programme to support colleges in developing their sexual health services. The conference promoted the benefits of delivering quality personal, social and health education.
The day included a keynote speech from Professor Roger Ingham, Professor of Health and Community Psychology at the University of Southampton and Director of the multidisciplinary Centre for Sexual Health Research, and the opportunity for further education professionals to showcase their work and share the experience they have in improving access to essential health services.
Deborah Shaw, Lead for Sexual Health at NHS East Midlands said: “Colleges provide people with the skills and qualifications to help them on the road to success. Many students, however, develop health problems along the way which prevent them from completing that journey. By equipping colleges with the skills to promote these health services we are helping to address this issue. Also, by organising this conference we gave colleagues and learners from further education the opportunity to showcase best practice and hear first-hand what their peers and healthcare professionals are doing to help reduce teenage pregnancy rates and improve access to services.”
