PPEP Talk Schools Program

The Periods, Pain and Endometriosis (PPEP Talk®) Program is an initiative of the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia (PPFA), funded by the Federal Government Department of Health with support from State and Territory Governments. This curriculum-linked health and wellbeing education program is aimed at students in Year 10, an age where most students will have begun menstruating.

PPEP Talk® addresses the number one priority of the National Action Plan for Endometriosis – education and awareness. It plays a critical role in informing and educating students to recognise and identify whether their pain is normal, how all the different symptoms fit together, simple ways to reduce their pain, and how to look for further help if pain is severe. PPEP Talk® is a fun, medically accurate and age-appropriate information session incorporating the modern neuroscience of pain, of benefit to all students, particularly the 1 in 4 girls and people assigned female at birth with severe period pain.

The Program, lasting one hour, is delivered by fully trained educators and incorporates animation, video and interactive components. It includes specifically developed resources for use during the session and resources for girls with pain to take home and discuss with their parents. The 60-minute session is followed by an opportunity for individual students, or teachers, with specific or personal pain concerns to discuss these with the program educator individually. In this way, PPEP Talk® provides early intervention and supports girls, families, teachers, and schools at a time when pain is more easily managed, and the life effects of pain and missed school can be most efficiently minimised.