“Go Into Cuff It Season Tested and Protected,” reads a billboard for the CDPH’s Title X reproductive health program, urging Clevelanders to enter those cold-months relationships safely.
“We’ve been using billboards more recently over the last couple of years to try to draw in individuals, especially high-risk individuals to come and get tested both for pregnancy and STI and get treatment and information for their reproductive health,” said Cleveland Department of Public Health director of community health initiatives Katrese Minor, who came up with the campaign.
For the uninitiated, “cuffing” is derived from African American slang and generally refers to forgoing hookups and situationships, instead settling into a relationship. “Cuff It Season,” more often called Cuffing Season, is the chilly fall and winter months when many people seek romantic partners.
“It’s for single people and it’s the time of year where it gets colder and it’s also around the holidays when people are entering into romantic relationships or trying to find a romantic partner,” Minor said. “And you’re spending a lot of time indoors and not outdoors and you’re just being more potentially romantically involved.”
There’s an abundance of speculation–including an actual study–about why people participate in Cuffing Season, but with the sun setting at 5 p.m. and invites circulating for holiday parties, a partner can help stave off Seasonal Affective Disorder and nosy relatives.
Although the ad targets those in new relationships, CDPH’s Title X program offers the full gamut of reproductive health services, including annual exams, STI testing, pregnancy testing, family planning, contraceptive planning and HPV vaccinations to everyone. The services offered are also low-cost or even free to patients.
“It’s a sliding fee scale, so you only pay, essentially, what you can afford. So some people may be covered by insurance, like if they have Medicaid or some other kind of insurance, then they probably have no out of pocket expense costs,” said Minor. “And then for other individuals where you may not be insured or are underinsured, you pay relatively nothing for the services. They’re usually covered by some other program.”
Title X reproductive health services are available at two health centers, the J. Glen Smith Health Center on the East Side and the T.F. McCafferty Health Center on the West Side.
“Prevention is key and it’s better to prevent illness than it is to try to treat it,” Minor said.
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This article appears in Nov 22 – Dec 5, 2023.