The Sexual Wellbeing live event roadshow has made a return to third level campuses around the country this 22/23 academic year.
The Sexual Wellbeing campaign is run by the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme (SHCPP). It is primarily aimed at 18 to 30 year old's in Ireland with the aim to provide information to improve sexual health and wellbeing and to prevent unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The campaign includes the website sexualwellbeing.ie which hosts important information and materials; as well as a number of out of home initiatives on the ground, including live events on campuses.
The first of these live events took place in third level campuses in September 2022, visiting University of Galway, UCC, UCD and UL during Freshers’ weeks.
More recently, in February 2023, this roadshow continued across seven third level campuses as part of their Sexual Health and Guidance (SHAG) weeks. Campuses visited included SETU (Carlow), TU Athlone, TUS Moylish (Limerick), MTU Cork, ATU Sligo, TU Dublin and IADT.
These events form part of the wider Sexual Wellbeing media plan, to help promote sexual health information and prevention messages directly to third level students.
To date, these events have resulted in:
- Distribution of condoms and lube to a key audience
- Generated awareness and discussions relating to sexual health and wellbeing, in particular focusing on new services such as free home STI testing and free contraception for 17 to 26 year old's
- Promoted the availability of information and advice on sexualwellbeing.ie
The roadshow consists of a high-visibility, interactive event site that is set up at each third level campus. A spin the wheel quiz helped effectively engage with students, taking an educational and youth-focused approach.
There has been a warm welcome of Sexual Wellbeing’s return to campus, with thousands of students engaged in learning more about their sexual health.
To help bring the conversations from these events to an even broader audience, SHCPP in partnership with two universities, developed a youth focused video series for social media. These were promoted primarily on TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Presented by Welfare Officers at University of Galway (Imogen O’Flaherty Falconer) and MTU Cork (Kelda McManus), these two series cover information about free home STI testing, free prescription and emergency contraception, how to access free condoms and the My Options service.
The first of these series which focuses on STI free home tests, has already proven popular with the audience, with series one achieving over 1.8 million views on TikTok alone.
You can view these series on Sexual Wellbeing’s social media platforms:
Instagram: @hserespectprotect
TikTok: @Sexualwellbeing.ie
Facebook: @hserespectprotect
The live events and social media series were delivered in partnership with Headcase Marketing.
For more information about the live events or wider campaign please contact Muireann Kirby, Campaign Manager for sexual health campaigns at muireann.kirby@hse.ie. For information about the work of the Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme contact Anita Ghafoor-Butt SHCPP Communications Manager at anita.butt@hse.ie.