Perceptions of STD’s in Australia
During my time at General Assembly we were asked to complete a ‘personal project’ of which I chose to write a strategic plan on how to normalise the conversation around STD/STI’s.
Note : As this information captured through interviews is highly sensitive no names, ages or photographs were recorded and as such won’t be represented here.
Process
— Interviews, 12 private and confidential interviews. A mixture of general public, doctors and nurses were interviewed over a shot period of time.
— Market Research, an in-depth look into the current state of medicating, educating and general attitudes towards STD/STIs.
— Competitor Analysis, looking at companies, brands and charities who are educating and medicating.
— S.W.O.T Analysis, looking at the research and breaking down into actionable bullet points.
— Recommendations, a list of recommendations broken down to highlight solutions based on insights from interviews.
— Proven Examples, examples of where my recommendations have worked in the past to showcase and add weight to the recommendations.
Timeline
An In-depth Look
The following is an in-depth look into the extensive research into the current environment surrounding STD/STIs. I looked at attitudes, practises and public perception of STD/STIs to better understand the environment, pull insights from interviews and lastly draw on conclusions and develop recommendations.
Research
To begin research I needed to develop a way to communicate that all information would be confidential and no identifying details would be recorded. I used a combination of market research and interviews to cultivate information surrounding STD/STIs.
Marketing Research
For the purpose of this strategic plan I looked at Australia and found the following statics and information to help inform a look into the current state.
— About 25,313 HIV-positive people in Australia, around 2,619 (10%) were unaware of their status.
— 1/10 Australias kept their STI status from their partner, 1/5 Australians aren’t sure if they have an STI because they have never been tested, 52% of Australias rarely or never use contraception when having sex
This is just a snapshot of the current environment surrounding STD/STIs.
Interviews
Overall I interviewed nine people from varying walks of life as well as a doctor and two nurses. It gave me an extensive look into the current environment from a wide range of viewpoints, from individuals who had never been tested, people who are currently suffering from STD/STIs and those who have treated and tested people with cases of STD/STIs.
During the research phase I developed an understanding of three main phases people go through when interacting with an STD/STI contracting, testing, medicating and living. Each phase has a specific set of experiences and challenges people have deal with and it gave greater insight into their individual journeys.
Journey Mapping
Living with an STD/STI
Contracting, Testing & Medicating
Pain Points
After talking to various people about their experiences in a wide variety of interactions, five main ‘pain points’ were identified.
Poor Communication — “I didn’t know so I unknowingly gave it to the next person, and I was left feeling like a slut”
Communication between sexual partners, be they in a relationship or not, is of upmost important in regards to protecting each others sexual health. When this break down occurs it can have life lasting detrimental causes, a sense of shame or lack of education can often mean communication is broken.
Negative Language — “The word “clean” it’s fucked, like if you’re not clean you’re somehow dirty”
Language has a huge impact on how we perceive something, it also can has serious psychological impacts on individuals. It’s important that dialogue about STD/STIs become part of our every day conversation when we’re talking to our sexual partners.
Guilt — “I had fucked up and felt like I made a huge mistake”
This guilty feeling is a common thread found amongst the majority of people interviewed. To think someone has to deal with feeling as though they have made a mistake on top of dealing with an STD/STI is poor reflection on the current society attitudes towards people contract an STI/STI. Through a campaign aimed at normalising the conversation we may be able to easy the feeling of guilt
Isolation — “Because you are having sex with someone it is already so Vulnerable. Sex is such a vulnerable state”
The feeling of isolation has also been documented, this feeling is one that left many users unable to communicate with family & friends about the issue. Many users felt isolated or abandoned either by their partner or by those they spoke too about the issue.
Education — “All I remember being told was don’t get pregnant”
Lack of education means that people are often left feeling unprepared for things to come, many interviewees have no memories of school STD or STI. Throughout the research it was also noticed that people were depending on a lot of ‘peer to peer’ education.
Through these pain points it became apparent that there is a need for a list of recommendations that would work together to help normalise the conversation around STD/STI’s, increase testing rates and most importantly decrease the total amount of STD/STI rates.
S.W.O.T
Recommendations
Through the research and insights the following recommendations have been designed to work in conjunction. A campaign aimed at starting a conversation, a website for information and resources about where to test, why and how often and lastly a bigger look at education.
Campaign
A campaign that highlights stats that then reflect the nest places to get tested. “There is a STD/STI clinic 5 minutes from here”
Encouraging people to normalise the conversation, and make it a part of people’s lives.
We want to steer very clear of the vain of horrific AIDS campaigns that algin STD/STIS with death like this 1987 Australian NACAIDS TV Ad, and push more towards ad like Luke McGregor’s skit in STI House.
Website
The development of a website that acts as a resource page, much like the website Ending HIV 2020 which is a website in NSW which has the goal of ending HIV by 2020 through extensive public education to “test often, test early, stay safe and end HIV”
Tells you want to expect and when to expect it.
Gives you best practise, advice on when you contract an STD/STI, how often you need to be testing and where you can test.
Perhaps even a survey based on sexuality, gender, frequency of intercourse to estimate your best practise.
Education
Earlier education around STD/STIs and further more mutual respect for those engaging in sexual intercourse. This is seemingly more prevalent as 2016 saw the biggest increase in STD/STI’s was in the age group between 16 to 21.
Proven Examples
Campaign
Ending HIV 2020 is an organisation dedicated “to informing and supporting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) to reduce HIV transmissions in NSW by 80% by 2020”
Website
Melbourne Sexual Health Centre is a centre dedicated to helping those that have an interaction with STD/STIs.
Education
ShineSA is a service and education delivery model works to provide sexual health education, early intervention, health promotion, clinical services and therapeutic counselling.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The following will be the key performance indicators and how the progress will be tested, evaluated and continue to grow.
Lowered STD / STI Rates
Moving forward it would be appropriate to look at a long term goal of lower STD/STI rates.
Regular Testing Increase
It would be ideal to see a rise in regular and regular testing amounsgt individuals.
Langauge Change
Continued conversations around language and social monitoring through campaigns, awareness marches and the continued monitoring of education.