A North Texas healthcare provider wants to expand sexual health services – with help from the community

Prism Health North Texas has hired an 11-member advisory group to inform clinic expansion efforts and reach underserved communities.

The Sexual Health Advisory Group (SHAG) will meet monthly over the next two years to discuss community members’ needs and experiences related to sexual health services, as well as the best strategies for outreach.

Januaryi Fox, director of policy, advocacy and community engagement at Prism Health North Texas, said SHAG is designed to make it easier for patients to have sometimes uncomfortable conversations about sexual health.

“What services do we have to offer? What do our doctors need to know? How would you like to be greeted at reception when checking in? “Does this work for you?” Fox said. “Taking all of these things into account will help us make Prism Health North Texas a more community-driven organization.”

The advisory group — and expansion plans at Prisms’ five clinics that offer sexual health services — are funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). have prices increased by approximately 2% Numerous illnesses have emerged in the past five years, according to a CDC report that counted cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia in the United States

In Texas, rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia are higher than the national average, and the state has one of the highest rates of new HIV infections in the country.

Prism Health North Texas received $500,000 through the grant in 2023 and will receive $200,000 each year through 2028.

In addition to establishing the advisory group, Prism Health North Texas is also using funds to cover the cost of sexual health testing for patients who are uninsured or meet other eligibility requirements.

Danielle Rohr, director of program evaluation for the group, said Prism Health North Texas has also made investments to provide patients with high-resolution anoscopy procedures, used primarily to detect cancer in the anus or lower rectum.

Rohr said Prism Health North Texas has trained two health care providers to conduct screenings and is working on infrastructure to provide services at clinics.

Members of the Sexual Health Advisory Group could help Prism Health develop strategies for educating communities about the importance of anoscopy procedures.

“How can we make this information widely available to the community without it being offensive or weird or whatever and actually get people to call and make their appointment?,” Rohr said. “It’s a procedure that a lot of people may not be familiar with and may not understand and may not know who needs it.”

In initial meetings, SHAG will focus on the fundamentals of sexually transmitted diseases and systemic barriers to health care. The actual discussions will begin in 2025, said Javier Enriquez, policy, advocacy and community engagement coordinator at Prism.

“We wanted to make sure all of our SHAG members were equipped with basic information so they could all feel confident participating,” Enriquez said.

SHAG members were selected from a pool of 65 applicants and include representatives from marginalized groups – the majority of members are people of color and most identify as transgender. Prism Health also considered representation in Dallas zip codes.

“I think people who are people of color or trans people come from a background where, when they’re in some of these spaces, they’re often the only person representing their identity. We wanted to avoid that too,” said Enriquez. “While we want a diverse range of experiences to be heard, we also don’t want to tokenize people.”

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