Disciplines
Nursing | Public Health and Community Nursing | Women's Health
Abstract (300 words maximum)
In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, women are being deprived of the basic human right of access to proper feminine hygiene products and education. The purpose of this service leadership project was to review current literature to describe menstrual hygiene as a basic human right, to explore the cost/access to feminine hygiene products in multiple studies, to examine political and international initiatives surrounding access to feminine hygiene products, and to synthesize how nursing students can advocate for primary care and health promotion in the community in which they live. The project aimed to address the overwhelming need for access to feminine hygiene products for homeless college women on the KSU campus (“About Care,” 2019). This paper describes the creation and implementation of the Kennesaw State University (KSU) Student Nurses Association (SNA) Period Party Project. The project was promoted by the KSU WellStar School of Nursing SNA members to provide donations of menstrual pads, tampons, and panty liners that were assembled into individual period packages. All SNA members were invited to the 1-hour event where individual period packages were assembled by 37 members. The KSU SNA addressed the stigma surrounding menstrual health through the Period Party Project and hand-delivered 200 individual period packages to the KSU CARE Services pantry to aid homeless women on the KSU campus.
Keywords: KSU SNA Period Party Project, feminine hygiene products, nursing advocacy, basic human right
Academic department under which the project should be listed
WCHHS - Nursing
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Linda Sutton
Additional Faculty
Doreen Wagner, Nursing, dwagne18@kennesaw.edu
KSU SNA Period Party Project: Advocating for Women’s Health in the Homeless Population of Kennesaw State University
In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, women are being deprived of the basic human right of access to proper feminine hygiene products and education. The purpose of this service leadership project was to review current literature to describe menstrual hygiene as a basic human right, to explore the cost/access to feminine hygiene products in multiple studies, to examine political and international initiatives surrounding access to feminine hygiene products, and to synthesize how nursing students can advocate for primary care and health promotion in the community in which they live. The project aimed to address the overwhelming need for access to feminine hygiene products for homeless college women on the KSU campus (“About Care,” 2019). This paper describes the creation and implementation of the Kennesaw State University (KSU) Student Nurses Association (SNA) Period Party Project. The project was promoted by the KSU WellStar School of Nursing SNA members to provide donations of menstrual pads, tampons, and panty liners that were assembled into individual period packages. All SNA members were invited to the 1-hour event where individual period packages were assembled by 37 members. The KSU SNA addressed the stigma surrounding menstrual health through the Period Party Project and hand-delivered 200 individual period packages to the KSU CARE Services pantry to aid homeless women on the KSU campus.
Keywords: KSU SNA Period Party Project, feminine hygiene products, nursing advocacy, basic human right