New Text Messaging Service for Youth Reproductive Health Education

For Immediate Release: April 16, 2009

California-based service, Hookup provides youth-friendly weekly texts with sexual health tips and life advice along with California clinic locations.

Need to get hooked up with sexual health tips and life advice?  Want to find a youth-friendly clinic near you that offers STD testing and other reproductive health services? 

Just text "hookup" to 365247.

The California Family Health Council, the California Department of Public Health, STD Control Branch, and Internet Sexuality Information Services, Inc., (ISIS), are partnering in the launch of Hookup, a statewide text messaging service for youth. 

The April roll-out of this innovative service has been chosen in honor of STD Awareness Month. The service aims to provide young people with relevant sexual health information and an easy resource for finding youth-friendly local clinics that offer free or low-cost STD testing and other reproductive health services. 

This program is the first statewide text-messaging service of its kind, reaching youth with critical sexual health information in a unique and resourceful way and connecting them to the services they need to stay healthy.  An official press statement announcing the service will be released mid-month.

By sending the word “hookup” as a text message to the phone number 365247, youth can get hooked up with weekly tips on sexual health, pregnancy prevention, and other health issues of concern to young people.  By replying to these texts with the word CLINIC plus their zip code, youth will be able to access the name, address and phone number of local youth-friendly clinics that provide STD testing and reproductive health services.  The phone number was chosen because anyone can access the service 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! 

The tips have been developed by health educators based on conversations with youth about their biggest concerns around health.  Clinic referrals are currently available for Title X-funded clinics, STD clinics, and school-based health centers; additional appropriate clinic sites will be added throughout the campaign.
 
The online home for the Hookup service is Teensource, CFHC’s sexual health website for youth: http://www.teensource.org.  Teensource will feature the Hookup’s tip of the week and will provide more in-depth information about the weekly tip.  The site also offers further information about how youth can protect themselves from STDs and unintended pregnancies and provides steps they can take to make responsible sexual health choices.  Teensource will be the place to go for any future marketing competitions related to the Hookup campaign.

We need your help to spread the word about this innovative new service for youth!  Please send this announcement to any of your partners who work with young people in California.  A marketing guide and downloadable campaign materials, including posters and flyers, palm cards, tattoos, stickers, and logos, can be found on the CA STD/HIV Prevention Training Center SWAP site: http://www.stdhivtraining.org/swap_feature_hookup_april_2009.html. 

Contact:

Rebecca Braun - braunr@cfhc.org

About the California Family Health Council:

CFHC coordinates and supports the delivery of health services in community-based organizations throughout California. The organization distributes federal Title X family planning funds to community agencies serving low income communities, and also provides those agencies with technical assistance, training and financial services. CFHC performs advanced research in reproductive health care and contraception, conducts education, training and community outreach efforts, and tests, implements and monitors effective programs.