GYT Success Stories

On this page:

Oakland University, Michigan

Oakland University is a research university located in suburban metropolitan Detroit. OU boasts a roster of 20,000 students, approximately 2,500 of whom live on campus.

The Graham Health Center (GHC) at Oakland University hosts biannual chlamydia and gonorrhea screenings for OU students. The event takes place at a student resident hall and is open to all students, irrespective of their residential status. The screening kits are provided to GHC at no cost from the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH).

GHC began hosting this event in 2008 and has since completed 15 separate events. Positivity rates at these events have ranged from 3% to 13 % with an overall average of 8%. The number of students screened is approximately 130 people per academic year. Participation between men and women is well distributed; however, female participants account for about two thirds of the participants.

Several weeks prior to the event, GYT posters are placed in the residence halls and appropriate websites. At the designated time of the event, a table display is set up with various GYT pamphlets, contraceptive information, and condoms. Students are recruited by volunteers as they pass by the display table. Students are informed of the strict confidentiality of this process and then asked to complete a registration form. The form is reviewed by the clinic staff and the student is instructed on the proper collection of the specimen and how and when they will be notified of the results. The screening tests are processed in about one week’s time and students who test positive for either gonorrhea or chlamydia are informed and provided antibiotic treatment free of charge, courtesy of the MDCH.

The Details:

Duration of Event:

2 hours, 4:30pm to 6:30pm

Number of Staff needed (and role):

Approximately 6-7 persons:
2 -3 people required to distribute and collect specimen cups.
3-4 people to register participants and verify health information

Materials/equipment needed:

Urine specimen cups (at least 100)
Syringes (at least 100)
Test tubes (at least 100)
Pens ( at least 12)
Clipboards (at least 5)
Registration handouts ( provided to health workers by the State)

Budget/monies needed:

Cost of closing clinic and utilizing clinic staff for approximately 2.5 hours
Cost of printing flyers for distribution

Partnerships leveraged:

Resident Advisors
College Athletic Trainers
Student Groups

Evaluation Activities:

Tracking number of patient’s tested and comparing results against historical data

Outcomes/Impacts:

The number of cases is variable and tends to be location dependent.
Each individual event’s success is largely correlated with the level of student engagement and student volunteer recruitment. Historically, when GHC has had engagement from members of the Greek System or other large student groups, then the total number of students screened has increased.
Social media, largely through Facebook and Twitter, has recently helped to increase screening participation.

Obstacles and lessons learned:

Site selection is a perpetual challenge. GHC wants to both attract attention and encourage more participation amongst students while also facilitating a private atmosphere for the participants. Dormitories with men’s, women’s and unisex bathrooms is helpful.
Having volunteers stationed outside of each designated bathrooms helps facilitate more efficient specimen processing.
Providing clip boards, pens and a separate seating area for students to fill out the paperwork helps to reduce influx while also conferring a bit of privacy
As GHC’s social media presence expands, organizers feel they will be better able to disseminate GYT information to the student body and partner with on campus student organizations, to recruit greater student participation.

Information accurate as of January 2015.

University of South Carolina

The University of South Carolina’s Sexual Health office conducted a GYT Tour, offering giveaway bags consisting of educational material and safe sex resources. Organizers visited various student organizations at the beginning of their organizational meetings and briefly facilitated an interactive educational component, highlighted testing resources, and passed out goodie bags.

Promotion for the tour was done simply by reaching out to student organizations and requesting to use a brief 10 minute time slot at the start of their meetings.

The goal of the GYT Tour was to empower students who are sexually active to access STI testing and sexual health services at the Thomson Student Health Center.