HIV & Reproductive Health
Greetings! 
It has been a busy few months for the Parallel Paths team at CHOICES, travelling back and forth from Memphis to Nashville, working on local trainings, and hosting a Memphis Hub of the International AIDS Conference.
We hope you'll visit the new CHOICES web page linking you to the current doings and upcoming events of the Parallel Paths/Caminos Paralelos Project. We have some exciting events coming up, so be sure to stay tuned for new announcements.
As always, thank you so much for your support of CHOICES! Rebecca L. Terrell
Executive Director
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Nashville Debut of Parallel Paths Project
The Parallel Paths project, created to connect issues of HIV with those of reproductive healthcare in Memphis, has met with much success in its first two years.
This success led our team to expand the project to Nashville over the summer. CHOICES has now established partnerships with some stellar organizations in Nashville, and our goal is to foster the same level of dialogue between providers of HIV healthcare and reproductive healthcare in that community. This expansion represents the first step toward creating a statewide network of providers in conversation with each other across Tennessee.
In September the CHOICES team met up with our Nashville counterparts to present at the Tennessee Department of Health's HIV/STD Prevention Meeting in Nashville. Not only did Parallel Paths team present on the connection between HIV/AIDS and reproductive health and the mission of Parallel Paths, we also hosted a post-meeting happy hour in order to further engage the attendees. We had a great time and made great connections with other heath care providers across the state.
In November, we had a table at the TN AIDS Education and Training Center's 2012 HIV Symposium. At this event we were able to talk to folks about our project and advertise our upcoming webinar series. Look for more great things to come as we work to increase HIV and reproductive health integration statewide.
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  In the last six months Choices has partnered with the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals to provide free continuing medical education trainings to local clinicians. "Chronic Medical Conditions and Sexual Health: Issues and Answers", led by Sharon Schnare, RN, FNP, and "Risks Made Real: A Case-Based Approach to Addressing Risk in Contraception", led by David Turok, MD, MPH, were presented at Choices. These sessions mark an ongoing partnership between Choices and Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP) to provide trainings for CME credit. In 2013, as part of the Parallel Paths project, Choices will offer a webinar series on HIV and reproductive health. We are excited to partner with ARHP to offer free CME credit for these webinars. Stay tuned for specific dates or contact Katy Leopard for details. |
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Reproductive Health Feature of the Month: The facts about the hormonal vaginal contraceptive ring
The hormonal vaginal contraceptive ring (NuvaRing) is a soft, flexible 2 inch ring inserted vaginally to prevent pregnancy. NuvaRing is inserted every three weeks, then removed for a week in order to have a menstrual period after which a new one is inserted a week later. Most women report not being able to feel the ring once it is inserted. Using the hormones progestin and estrogen, NuvaRing is 98-99% effective at preventing pregnancy.
NuvaRing is available at CHOICES once you have an Annual or Semi-Annual exam.
More important information:
- NuvaRing does not protect against HIV (AIDS) or any other sexually transmitted diseases.
- NuvaRing should not be used if you smoke cigarettes and are over 35 years old.
- While a prescription is needed, no medical assistance is needed to insert or remove the NuvaRing.
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CHOICES is an independent, non-profit organization providing reproductive health care, community education, and working to protect reproductive freedom, justice and equality.
Hablamos Espaņol
LGBT friendly
Teens are like totally welcome
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CHOICES takes to Beale Street for a cause
Some fantastic CHOICES staff and volunteers turned out for the Mid-South Pride Festival and Parade at Robert Church Park in downtown Memphis on October 6th. We were excited to be involved and lend our support and love to members of the LGBT community and supporters. Not deterred by the weather, some dedicated allies marched down Beale representing CHOICES.
Thanks so much to everyone who turned out!
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HIV Ends with Me
Recently, CHOICES was contracted by the MidSouth AIDS Fund to build local capacity in HIV prevention and care. One of the agencies we consulted with was St. Paul's Baptist Church to pilot a new summer program educating teens about HIV prevention techniques and treatment. The two-week camp, HIV Ends With Me, informed the teens about HIV and allowed them to make their own public service announcements about what they had learned. The PSAs will be shown in the Shelby County Health Department STI clinic and are up on YouTube.
Check out one of the awesome PSAs below!
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Prevent HIV Public Service Announcement
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