Looking out for the young ones

Same-sex attracted young people often have difficulty asking their family GP about sexual health concerns, a youth service claims, so they want to bring down the barriers.

The St George Youth Service has established a clinic in Hurstville specifically for young people, focusing on sexual health, drug and alcohol issues and mental health -“ topics they don’t want getting back to mum or dad.

The service’s manager Valentina Angelosvka said the expansion of the service, thanks to funding from the South Sydney Illawarra Health Service, would boost support for the sexual health needs of young people.

Their local or family GP probably hasn’t had a lot of training in dealing with young people, so we’ve set it up so it’s easy and affordable for them to access health care, STI checks and the like, Angelosvka said.

The clinic has a roster of health workers for drug and alcohol issues, mental health, GPs interested in working with young people and a sexual health nurse.

Best known for running the GLYSSN social group for same-sex attracted people under 25, the service is now looking for a new full-time coordinator to facilitate the group, run anti-homophobia campaigns, and promote and support the clinic.

We are looking for someone interested in working with young gay people who has the understanding and skills, as well as having a health or community background, Angelosvka said.

They also have bigger plans for the GLYSSN service with a new project to recruit and train peer educators in the next 12 months.

Some have already been in a peer education situation, but without formal training. They’ve kind of out-grown the group, Angelosvka said.

She said the youth health clinic and GLYSSN were set up to cover the St George area but people from any area were welcome.

The clinic can be contacted on 9570 9678, and GLYSSN via www.glyssn.com. Those interested in assisting the service can contact Angelosvka on 9556 1769.