Hazen Staff Presents at SUNY Spectrum Conference
Mat Hall, Associate Director of Health Promotion and Prevention Education, presents research on COVID-19’s impact on college student sexual and reproductive health at the SUNY Spectrum Conference.
Research early in the COVID-19 pandemic showed that, across the nation, the number of people getting tested for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV dramatically decreased as it became difficult to find available screening appointments or because people felt unsafe in crowded medical spaces. Center for Disease Control data, however, noted that 2020 and 2021 continued a years long trend of historically high rates of STI transmission - particularly among young people.
At the Hazen Center for Integrated Care, staff also saw a drop in STI/HIV screening visits, particularly during the height of the pandemic. As such, Health Center and Health Promotion & Prevention Education staff saught to better understand how the pandemic was impacting the sexual and reproductive health of Brockport students. During the spring of 2022, staff conducted a comprehensive study of the various ways in which COVID changed STI testing rates, sexual activity rates, victimization, period poverty, etc.
On Friday September 16, Mat Hall will present these findings to the SUNY Spectrum conference, with a particular emphasis on the experience of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC students. In addition, the presentation will cover the ways in which Hazen Center staff got creative to continue meeting the sexual health needs needs of students during the pandemic.