sexual health

What Playing Chutes and Ladders with Rwandan Healthcare Providers Taught Me About Youth Friendly Care

As an over-packer in recovery, I have brought many unnecessary items with me on trips around the world. But as a seasoned human-centered design professional I knew that my suitcase to Rwanda needed to have not just sharpies and post-its to document quotes and takeaways during the […]

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Transgender Spectrum Youth Health: they2ze Mobile App

Transgender Spectrum Youth Health: they2ze Mobile App

YTH is working with funding from the National Library of Medicine [NLM] to focus on reducing HIV among transgender-spectrum youth and enhancing overall transgender-spectrum youth health during the 2016-2017 AIDS Community Information Outreach Program [ACIOP]. In collaboration with the community, YTH is focusing on the HIV/AIDS epidemic […]

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Young Parents Day 2016: Using Social Media to Change the Narrative

Young Parents Day 2016: Using Social Media to Change the Narrative

When we hear the words “teen parent,” we often think of cautionary tales about “babies having babies” or “irresponsible teenagers.” But for some young people, making their own reproductive choices has led to positive outcomes. Allowing young people to make sexual and reproductive choices free of stigma […]

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5 Cervical Health Awareness Month Resources for Youth

5 Cervical Health Awareness Month Resources for Youth

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about HPV, a leading cause of cervical cancer. Although 79 million Americans have HPV, many don’t know they have it or don’t have access to resources to find out or understand their status. Fortunately, cervical cancer […]

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Danielle Sepulveres Speaks Out for Cervical Health Month

Danielle Sepulveres Speaks Out for Cervical Health Month

January is Cervical Health Month, a time to spread awareness about HPV, which impacts over 79 million Americans, and is a leading cause of cervical cancer. Unfortunately, this issue has not received a lot of coverage in mainstream media, as actress, freelance writer, and comprehensive sex ed […]

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YTHINFO: Educating Youth About HIV Prevention via SMS

YTHINFO: Educating Youth About HIV Prevention via SMS

YTH is pleased to launch YTHINFO, a SMS campaign reaching youth weekly with HIV prevention information and resources tailored to their needs and lifestyles. Eighty-eight percent of young Americans age 13 to 17 have their own cell phone or smart phone or daily access to one, and […]

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Behind the Bedroom Door: The Real Sex Lives of Denver Youth

Behind the Bedroom Door: The Real Sex Lives of Denver Youth

The average American loses his or her virginity at age 17, during a stage of life that is marked by fluctuations in hormones that change our bodies, emotions and perceptions of ourselves. It can be a confusing time for many teens as they explore many new feelings […]

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YTH: Igniting Impact in 2014 and Beyond

YTH: Igniting Impact in 2014 and Beyond

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, the YTH team is grateful for another amazing year of advancing technology for youth health and wellness. As you know, time flies when you’re having fun. It’s been a busy year for YTH, as we commemorate our 1-year anniversary with our Executive […]

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Spaces for Youth: Why I got rejected (rightfully) on my 20th birthday

Spaces for Youth: Why I got rejected (rightfully) on my 20th birthday

On April 7th, 2014, I turned 20 (eek!). I also tried to register as a member of an online sexuality and sexual health resource for teens and got rejected. They explained why: I’m no longer a teenager. I’m now in that murky area of young adulthood where I’m […]

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Birds Do It, Bees Do It: A history of US sex education

Birds Do It, Bees Do It: A history of US sex education

How did you first find out how babies were made? This was the opening question from Dr. Potts’ speech at the launch of the UC Berkeley exhibit Birds do It, Bees Do It: a Century of Sex (Mis)Education in the United States on October 1, 2014 in the Berkeley Doe […]

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Back to School…and Beyond

Back to School...and Beyond

Over and over in issues of health, particularly sexual health, we run into the problem of education. It’s difficult to convince someone to use a condom or get that rash checked out if they don’t understand the consequences. In part, the issue needs to be addressed in […]

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Amplify your Voice: Digital Storytelling for Social Change

Amplify your Voice: Digital Storytelling for Social Change

“The anthropologists got it wrong when they named our species Homo sapiens (‘wise man’). In any case it’s an arrogant and bigheaded thing to say, wisdom being one of our least evident features. In reality, we are Pan narrans, the storytelling chimpanzee.” ― Terry Pratchett, The Science of Discworld […]

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Why The SCOTUS Hobby Lobby Decision Matters for Youth

Why The SCOTUS Hobby Lobby Decision Matters for Youth

By Erin McKelle and Gloria Malone You probably have heard about the recent Supreme Court case involving craft retailer Hobby Lobby (Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby),which now allows employers to deny people contraceptive coverage based on their own religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby owners believed that Plan B, Ella, […]

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Textually Active: The Power of Mobile

Textually Active: The Power of Mobile

With Snapchat, WhatsApp, and more, texting almost feels like old news for some youth these days. In a landscape where everyone, from tweens to grandparents are texting, health professionals are just starting to scratch the surface of the many applications of mobile engagement. One of the most exciting developments […]

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Build Your Toolbox: Tech Solutions for HIV/STD Prevention and Treatment

Build Your Toolbox: Tech Solutions for HIV/STD Prevention and Treatment

Youth between the ages of 13 and 24 account for 17% of the US population, but 26% of its new HIV infections each year. 60% of those infected don’t even know it. How can we combat this epidemic? With the rise of computer and mobile phone use, […]

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#YTHHIV: A Conversation about Youth HIV Prevention

#YTHHIV: A Conversation about Youth HIV Prevention

Attention service providers! Community health workers! Educators! Medical professionals! Youth! You are all invited to participate in #YTHHIV, a live tweetchat hosted by YTH (@YTHorg) on Wednesday, June 25 from 10:30 – 11:30am, to discuss the many questions surrounding youth HIV prevention and sexual health. According to the […]

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YTH Youth Advisor Interviews Jackie Emerson of She’s So Boss

YTH Youth Advisor Interviews Jackie Emerson of She's So Boss

 Jacqueline “Jackie” Emerson is by no means a typical nineteen-year-old. Within the span of less than two decades, she has starred in a major Hollywood blockbuster alongside Jennifer Lawrence, started two organizations, and sang in a band! We were so fortunate to have her moderate the opening plenary on Youth […]

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Preventing Violence with Youth Health Technology

Preventing Violence with Youth Health Technology

What is “violence” and how do we stop it? As a society, we often answer that question with the obvious: war is violent; we try diplomacy and economic sanctions. Football is violent; we give the players helmets and padding. Sexual assault, verbal assault, harassment, intimate partner violence, […]

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New Campaign Draws Attention to Microaggressions

New Campaign Draws Attention to Microaggressions

Microaggressions: small, common acts of aggression that can be verbal, behavioral, or environmental, often committed without the aggressor being aware. They happen to everyone on a daily basis, especially LGBTQ communities, women, and people of color. They are acts that do not need to be tolerated or accepted by […]

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YTH Youth Advisor Interviews Alex Medina of Answer

YTH Youth Advisor Interviews Alex Medina of Answer

If there is one person in the world who is the most passionate about working with youth, it is Alex Medina. Alex is currently the Coordinator of Web Content and Social Networking at Answer. Answer is an award-winning, national organization that provides invaluable sexuality education resources to […]

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Media Advisory: YTH Health Hackathon at REACH powered by LPFI

Media Advisory: YTH Health Hackathon at REACH powered by LPFI

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      CONTACT:  Deb Levine [email protected] |(510)-835-9400 March 24, 2014  MEDIA ADVISORY  YTH, a non-profit organization based in Oakland, CA, is coordinating a free health hackathon for Alameda County residents ages 11-24 to learn to code and create apps that address and solve adolescent health and […]

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Oregon Reminders: Paving the Way for Healthy Living with HIV

Oregon Reminders: Paving the Way for Healthy Living with HIV

At YTH Live 2013, I didn’t know what to expect when I attended Oregon Reminders’ presentation. I later wondered how I became hooked on the Oregon Reminders campaign only few minutes into the discussion. Why? Two reasons: 1. It is easy to sign up. 2. It helps to […]

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Rubber Love: National Condom Month 2014

Rubber Love: National Condom Month 2014

This February, we have an entire month to give some extra love to the workhorse of the sexual health world: the condom! Of all the birth control available, the condom is the most frequently used method that not only has a high contraceptive rate (98% effectiveness rate […]

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Celebrating National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, YTH Style!

Celebrating National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, YTH Style!

February 7, 2014 marks the 14-year anniversary of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD)—an initiative that established a day of action for African American communities to do the following: Get educated about the basics of HIV and AIDS in and out of their local communities. Get tested […]

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Pro-Choice Health Tech for the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Pro-Choice Health Tech for the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States, I think not just about that access to a crucial sexual and reproductive health service, but also about choice and empowerment. And about the time in my life […]

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Online Sex Education Using Social and Mobile

Online Sex Education Using Social and Mobile

With all the money pouring into online interactive education, you’d think online sex ed would have been tackled by now.

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Is Teen Pregnancy a Public Health Issue or a Choice? Social Media Debates

Is Teen Pregnancy a Public Health Issue or a Choice? Social Media Debates

There’s been a quietly brewing debate about teen pregnancy in the US: Is it a public health issue or a race and class issue? Social media campaigns weigh in.

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Do We Still Need LGBTQ Pride in June? H*LL YES!

Do We Still Need LGBTQ Pride in June? H*LL YES!

Pride. June is the month when LGBTQ Pride events are happening all over the country,most likely in your city, too. Did you ever wonder whether we still need Pride parades anymore? I don’t, because I know we need them.

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National HIV Testing: Adding Social and Mobile

National HIV Testing: Adding Social and Mobile

This year National HIV Testing Day gives us pause to reflect. 30+ years in, and there is still stigma around HIV testing. It’s time for a change.

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ZonaSegura ZonaSegura is a trauma-informed youth-centered innovative mobile solution to address teen dating violence in Honduras. Learn more about ZonaSegura on our program page.