Community urged to support PPEP talk NSW to reach more students

Syl Freedman has recently delivered the Period Pain and Endometriosis Program, also known as PPEP talk NSW, to four schools in the Albury region, but says her funding only covers private schools.

"Whereas we want PPEP talk to go to all students including obviously public schools, so we really need the NSW state government to come on board and fund us so that we can get more clinical educators on board and deliver this program to all teens," she said.

Ms Freedman works for Pelvic Pain Foundation Australia and said her talks are part of the 2018 national action plan for endometriosis.

"We cover five different types of pelvic pain," she said.

"We talk about endometriosis, the pelvic organs and how pain works in the body on a neuroscience level and how to recognise whether your pain is normal or not.

"We talk about how different medications or hormone treatments can help this pain, as well as exercise, diet and complimentary therapies.

"We essentially want to give teens a toolkit, a bunch of different tools to draw upon in their life, to help them manage their pain, if they experience serious pain."

Ms Freedman said a survey of 2000 Australian school girls found one in four were missing school due to severe period pain.

"It's just not acceptable, we just want to get that number down," she said.

"So many young people are experiencing pelvic and period pain and we want them to feel supported and understood.

"We want to reduce the stigma; we want all teens to be able to talk freely about period pain, pelvic pain and endometriosis ... we need to identify strong pain in teens early so we can treat it early and stop them from developing persistent or chronic pelvic pain."

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Trinity Anglican College's Mari Green, who offer emotional and holistic support to students through a program which guides students through the transition from childhood to adulthood, backed Ms Freedman's call for more community and parental support to see the PPEP talk extended.

"I would put a lot of support behind that I think it's a really valuable program not only for students but, I had a lot of female teachers with me and they found it a really great educational piece so its definitely something to talk about to rally around and have these conversations to ensure and break down the stigma around female issues

"I most definitely encourage the community and other schools to get involved, it was a very worthwhile program," she said.

"The girls were educated around how to support not only themselves but also others around them and to work out what pain is normal and what pain is not normal.

"The reception from the girls was fantastic, we had many girls put their hand up and ask questions, it was a really open forum where the girls felt really safe, it was inclusive and it was a very educational experience."

The PPEP talk is also offered to boys.

Ms Green said the program was important because it broke down the stigma around women's issues.

"Many years ago talking about girls issues and physical issues around periods wasn't something that you openly discussed," she said.

"It's great to see in the 20th century that girls are able to openly express and talk about what's going on with their physical body to be able to help and support one another."

Ms Freedman said anyone experiencing pelvic or period pain which stops them from going to school should see their GP.

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