Grant Recipient
Zeba Khan
Research Assistant at the UBC Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences
Free Periods Canada Foundation is a grassroots non-profit organization that promotes menstrual health equity and education through research, knowledge translation, and the distribution of menstrual health supplies.
We are excited to develop a mini-course on menstrual health for youth on our free digital platform CHARMS. We hope that this course will support youth as well as educators and service providers who work with youth to access evidence-based menstrual health knowledge. Ultimately, we hope that this course will empower youth in understanding their menstrual health and feel more confident in discussing menstrual health and management.
It is particularly important to educate youth about menstrual health to assure that future generations feel comfortable seeking support for their menstrual health issues. Without menstrual health education, the combination of a lack of menstrual health literacy and normalization of period pain may lead to many menstrual health issues remaining undiagnosed. This lack of education may also lead to negative feelings associated with and stigmatization of menstrual cycles. For this reason, many youth may continue to feel afraid or ashamed of seeking help for their menstrual health. Educating youth about menstrual health is a way to assure more menstruators are comfortable seeking the help they need in the future.
