Invest in your health during Come Out for Health Week

Augusta University is hosting Come Out for Health Week through Friday, Oct. 11, in various spaces on campus.

“The purpose of Come Out for Health week is to highlight the importance of sexuality in health,” said Dr. Jessica Dillard-Wright, director of the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion inside the College of Nursing.

“Members of the LGBTQ community experience discrimination in the health care setting, often in interactions with well-meaning, but under-informed health care providers. This leads to mistrust in the system and disproportionate impact of disease burden on LGBTQ folks,” she added.

To kick off the week, special guest Terry Hackworth spoke about the basics of HIV and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections Friday, Oct. 4.

Hackworth is an adult nurse practitioner providing primary care and infectious disease care to adult patients in the Atlanta area. He is an expert in the provision of HIV care and preexposure prophylaxis. Notably, 97% of clients served in his practice living with HIV have achieved viral suppression.

On Monday, Oct. 7, sexual assault nurse examiner Vanessa Shields-Haas discussed lesbian reproductive health.

Shield-Haas is an HIV/AIDS certified RN and reproductive rights protector. In 2018, she participated in the Nurse Activism Think Tank. She has been a social justice activist for years and is passionate about making positive change within the university and health care systems.

Come Out for Health Week schedule

 Safe Zone Training

1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, in the Health Sciences Building, Room 5200

Safe Zone trainings are safe places for people to learn more about their own gender/sexuality and deepen their understanding of LGBTQ+ identity and issues. Safe Zone trainings are a safe place to ask questions, be vulnerable and learn.

 LGBTQ Homeless Youth: Findings from the Atlanta Youth Count 2018 and Implications for Georgia

3-5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, Jaguar Student Activities Center, Hardy Meeting Room

In this presentation, Eric R. Wright, PhD, and Ana LaBoy will present the findings in the 2018 research on homeless youth who self-identified as LGBTQ.

Funded by the National Institute of Justice, researchers, advocates, youth and community service providers partnered to conduct a second comprehensive study of homeless youth in metro Atlanta in 2018. This project was designed to estimate the number of homeless youth and the extent and nature of their involvement in sex and labor trafficking.

Come Out for Health Week is sponsored by College of Nursing’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Lambda Alliance; Multicultural Student Engagement; and Safe Zone.

Contact Dr. Dillard-Wright with questions.

Visit the university’s event calendar to find more upcoming events.