From Little Things… Starting young with healthy body art education
T
he creative efforts of a small team at Southern Primary Health Noarlunga (SPHN) and the City of Onkaparinga (COO) have led to two significant initiatives relating to body art and tattooing in SA. The first was the Healthy Body Art program—an ongoing education program in the southern suburbs to raise the awareness amongst primary school students about the risks associated with body-piercing The second was a project to develop strategies for educating and training South Australian body piercers and tattooists in infection control. The achievement of the Healthy Body Art program was recognised when SPHN’s Community Safety Consultant, Steve Parker—one of the key drivers of the program—was given the Health Minister’s Innovation Award late last year. This was part of the SA Health Awards, designed to recognise and reward individuals, teams, programs
Steve Parker
or projects working within the SA public health sector. Steve stressed that the project would not have been possible without the contribution of the COO’s Environmental Health Officer Nicole Moore. He said the need for such a program emerged after a number of stories surfaced about infection and injury resulting from unhygienic body art practices. “Body art is the fastest growing form of body decoration and is widely
practised among young people many of whom are unaware of the health risks associated with unhygienic body art practices and poor knowledge of aftercare,” he said. “Given the evidence that they will readily engage in unsafe piercing practices, it is crucial that young people are well informed about the importance of safe, hygienic and professional body piercing practices.” Nicole said it was important to talk to young people
Nicole Moore Hepatitis C Community News 12 • April 2011 Internal Pages - Issue 51 - Marc12 12
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