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Tools and Ideas

Clinical Tools

  • Why Screen for Chlamydia? An Implementation Guide for Health Care Providers
    This publication provides healthcare providers who care for adolescents and young adults information that they can use to improve delivery of Chlamydia screening to their patients. This guide was designed as a brief resource to help providers become aware of the latest information about Chlamydia screening and treatment, and ways to integrate this care into medical practice. It also includes information on issues related to providing confidential care to adolescents and tools for taking a sexual history with both adolescent and young adult patients.

    • Teen Friendly Office
      These office practices and suggestions can be adapted to any outpatient medical setting. Choose the ones that work in your office.

    • Consent & Confidentiality of Adolescents
      Find helpful information on dealing with consent and confidentiality issues of adolescents in the medical setting.

  • Guide to Taking a Sexual History
    Sexual health can greatly impact overall quality of life. This guide provides health care professionals with a sample of the discussion points and questions to ask your patients to obtain a more complete picture of patient health.

  • 2006 STD Treatment Guidelines
    Physicians and other healthcare providers play a critical role in preventing and treating sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). These guidelines for the treatment of STDs assist with that effort. Although these guidelines emphasize treatment, prevention strategies and diagnostic recommendations also are discussed.

  • Syphilis Elimination Effort Resources
    Information on the U.S. Syphilis Elimination Effort as well as access to key epidemiological data, health communication resources, and quick links to syphilis information.

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Media Relations/Communication Tools

The tools in this section are designed to help you disseminate news and information to the media to reach your target audiences. Some products are more useful for television and radio media, while others are effective for generating news stories with the print and Internet media. Below are two tip sheets, followed by samples and templates of some recommended communication tools.

  • Tips on Working with the Media
    Detailed tips on different ways to reach out to media outlets.

  • Tips on Using the Web to Promote Your Event
    Ideas for promoting your campaign through the Internet.

  • Letter to the Editor Pointers
    States a strong position with a purpose and one or two key points. Keep it short.

  • Op-Ed Article
    An opportunity to get your opinion out to thought-leaders and policy-makers. Focus on a specific issue, highlight contradictions, emphasize local importance, and present a specific action to be taken. They normally run on the page opposite the newspaper's editorial page. The Op-ed example shown here is a great example of a powerful op-ed on an important STD topic published last year in The Washington Post.

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Media Kit

A media kit is a package of materials given to media contacts to interest them in and inform them about your issues to assist them in providing coverage in their television, print, or radio media. These kits can include materials such as news releases with contact information, fact sheets, bios and contact information for spokespersons, flyers and brochures, copies of articles on your topic, and background information on your organization.

Below are suggested items for your media kit, with links to templates, instructions or examples of each of these tools.

  • Press Release
    Tells your news story in no more than 2 - 3 pages. Includes contact information and provides media with the most important details of your news story first, followed by quotes from key spokespersons.

  • Media Advisory
    Basic information about or an invitation to an event (fundraiser, press conference, public event, etc.) containing only the what, where, and when of the event.

  • Radio Public Service Announcement Script
    60-second spoken script that can be used with national and local radio affiliates.

  • Fact Sheet
    A document that provides statistical background and information on your issue.

  • Photo
    Provides a visual representation of your story and can be used by print media. Include a clear plain language caption on your photo describing the action in the picture.

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Other Tools and Resources

  • STD and HIV Testing Site Locator Search Code
    You can help promote STD and HIV testing on your own Web site by embedding a zip code search function that will direct users to www.findSTDtest.org, a national online tool for locating local STD and HIV testing centers by zip code.

    View of the Search Code on HIVTest.org Web site

    Simply cut and paste this code into your site. Please remember not to change any of the information located between the <form name…> and </form> so that the code functions properly.


    <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" topmargin="0" leftmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0">

    <h2>National HIV and STD Testing Resources ZIP Code Search</h2>

    <form name="search" method="post" action="http://www.hivtest.org/SAM/search/result.cfm" target="_self">

          ZIP Code:
          <input type="text" name="Zip" maxlength="5" size="5">

          <br><br>

          Search Radius:
          <select name="SearchRadius">
                <option value="10"> 10 miles</option>
                <option value="15"> 15 miles</option>
                <option value="20"> 20 miles</option>
                <option value="25"> 25 miles</option>
                <option value="30"> 30 miles</option>
                <option value="35"> 35 miles</option>
          </select>

          <br><br>

          <INPUT TYPE="submit" NAME="Action" VALUE="Find Sites">

    </form>
  • Add a Web Banner to Your Site
    Another way that you can help promote STD and HIV testing on your own Web site is to display the Web banner below, which directs users to www.findSTDtest.org


    Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

    Get Adobe Flash player


    Simply follow the three steps below:

    1. Click here to download and save a zipped folder with two files on your Web server. Please make sure that the folder is saved on same level as your file you want to embed the Web banner.
    2. In the Head section of your file, insert the following line:
      <script src="Scripts/swfobject_modified.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

    3. Cut and paste this code into the Body section of your page, where you want the banner displayed:

      <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="420" height="100" id="FlashToDownload" tabindex="2" title="STD Awareness, www.findSTDtest.org Banner">

         <param name="movie" value="DownloadableBanner.swf" />
         <param name="quality" value="high" />
         <param name="wmode" value="opaque" />
         <param name="swfversion" value="6.0.65.0" />
         <param name="expressinstall" value="scripts/expressInstall.swf" />

         <!-- Next object tag is for non-IE browsers. Hide it from IE using IECC. -->
         <!--[if !IE]>-->
            <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="100" data="DownloadableBanner.swf">
         <!--<![endif]-->
               <param name="quality" value="high" />
               <param name="wmode" value="opaque" />
               <param name="swfversion" value="6.0.65.0" />
               <param name="expressinstall" value="scripts/expressInstall.swf" />

               <!-- The browser displays the following alternative content for users with Flash Player 6.0 and older. -->
               <h4>Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.</h4>
               <p><a href="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"><img src="http://www.adobe.com/images/shared/download_buttons/get_flash_player.gif" alt="Get Adobe Flash player" width="112" height="33" /></a></p>

         <!--[if !IE]>-->
            </object>
         <!--<![endif]-->
      </object>

      4. Please remember not to change any of the information located between the <object classid…> and </object> so that the code functions properly.


  • CDC MySpace Page
    Become a friend of CDC on MySpace. You can do things like download badges and buttons for your own sites.

  • SWAP Site
    SWAP provides agencies with FREE access to locally developed, original health education and promotional materials and helps to stimulate HIV/STD health promotion and marketing ideas.

    Listen to Joyce Lisbin, Chief of Health Communication Unit, STD Control Branch, California Department of Health, talk about her state's STD Awareness Month efforts and SWAP.
    Click here to start.
    Click here to read transcript.

  • Internet and STD Center of Excellence
    This site offers an opportunity to join a professional network and share ideas, information, and resources with other colleagues in the field of STD/HIV prevention. The Center is a research effort to explore, identify, implement and evaluate innovative technologies and applications that show promise in addressing sexually transmitted disease prevention.

  • The National Guidelines for Internet-based STD and HIV Prevention
    The Guidelines provide health departments and community-based organizations information for using the Internet as a tool for the prevention of STDs/HIV. The Guidelines focus on Internet Outreach, Internet Partner Services, and Internet Health Communications. The Guidelines explore how to use Internet-based health communications strategies and tactics (e.g. web campaigns, YouTube, social networking sites, mobile applications) for STD/HIV prevention.

  • Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions
    The Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI) project was designed to bring science-based, community, group, and individual-level HIV prevention interventions to community-based service providers and state and local health departments. The goal is to enhance the capacity to implement effective interventions at the state and local levels, to reduce the spread of HIV and STDs, and to promote healthy behaviors.

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Campaign Ideas

Below are links to examples of STD/HIV campaigns developed and implemented by state and local health departments.

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Non-CDC Link Disclaimer: Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization web pages found at these links.

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