Health Services encourages students to get tested for STIs

Student Health Services encourages students to “Get Yourself Tested” and participate in sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. Illinois State students have the opportunity year-round to get tested for various types of STIs. 
It is important to practice safe sex; however, those that engage in sexual activity must remember to get themselves tested for their safety, and also to keep others safe as well. Students are welcome to make appointments with or without providers for STI testing. Your test will be confidential, and your results will be sent to you by secure message. Appointments can be made through our secure portal or by calling our appointment desk.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 20 million new sexually transmitted infections occur every year in the United States, half among young people ages 15–24, and some people have no symptoms. The importance of recognizing if you have an STI will help you determine your course of treatment and decrease long-term health issues that are related to untreated STIs.

Student Health Services summer options


Although the spring semester will be coming to an end in May, the services that are provided at the Student Health clinic will continue through the summer months.  Students that are sticking around campus for the summer may still utilize the clinic for all healthcare needs.  Below are the summer hours for the clinic, pharmacy and student health insurance.
  • Summer Clinic hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday
  • Summer pharmacy hours: 8 a.m.-noon and 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday
  • Summer student health insurance hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday
The same services are still provided to students during the summer months which include: primary care, sexual healthcare, nutrition consultation, psychiatry services, x-ray, lab, immunizations and more.
Students that are registered for the summer will have already been assessed the health service fee, and for at least six credit hours assessed the student health insurance fee as part of their student services fee.  Those who are not registered for classes over the summer,  may still utilize student health services by paying a small fee of $100.  Each visit will require an additional $10 door fee; however, most of the services will be provided to you in that small door fee.  Those services that require additional payment may be submitted to your student health insurance or primary insurance.
For those students that would like to take part in the summer student health insurance, and are not registered for 6 or more hours, may purchase the summer student health insurance for $175.  This will cover your health insurance through the summer months which includes while you are away on vacation.

A preview of our latest HIV/AIDS accession


As I am coming to the end of the Wellcome Trust funded project to catalogue LHSA’s UNESCO recognised HIV/AIDS collections, I thought I would provide a peek at one of our latest HIV/AIDS accession. In the last few days of the project, I have been pulling everything together and managed to spend some time on the Waverley Care accession (Acc14/028). This collection was donated to LHSA last year after connections were made between the charity, my predecessor Karyn and Project Conservator Emily. It’s great when working connections can be established between archives and potential donors because we can provide help and advice, with what materials are suitable for long-term preservation, storage and access, whilst enriching our own collections and research resources.

We have already been able to share with you some of the unique and important items from our HIV/AIDS collections, particularly from the vibrant Take Care Campaign. But through sharing some of the items from our other HIV/AIDS collections, we can reflect on the work of many charities, support networks and campaigns that were set up in Edinburgh (and beyond), during the outbreak. They would often work together to take on the epidemic and provided education and support for sufferers, as well as the wider general public. Services provided by charities, such as Waverley Care, provided (and are still providing) excellent support to people living with HIV and Hepatitis C and also work hard to raise awareness, in order to try and prevent new infections.

From the collection we can gain an insight into the foundations of Waverley Care, established in 1989. It was during this period that Edinburgh was labelled the ‘AIDS capital of Europe’, with the highest infection rate throughout the whole of the UK. The region was at the forefront of the battle against the spread of the virus so services like Waverley Care were set up in response. The charity went on to develop the UK’s first purpose build hospice for people living with HIV, Milestone House. This transformed into an intensive residential support unit and a community support service for people living with HIV or Hepatitis C.

The collection also has papers relating to another one of its earlier projects, Solas. This was a community-based support and information centre that like many other Edinburgh based campaigns, aimed to reduce public fears about HIV/AIDS. Instead of prevailing an atmosphere of doom and gloom, Solas wanted to be seen as a source of positivity, to help inspire and strengthen a support and education network.  

 
This positive approach can also be seen in the promotional activity of Waverley Care. Here are a selection of their postcards that were produced to promote their messages of strength, support, education and understanding.
                                                                                                                                                    


 


Finally, the charity also takes part in World AIDS Day which still provides an opportunity for the world to unite in the fight against HIV, and commemorate those who have died from the disease. Below is a tartan ‘Red Ribbon’ which became Waverley Care’s symbolic image and highlights the unified stance against HIV/AIDS.


For more information on Waverley Care and the current work of the charity, please visit http://www.waverleycare.org/