2/18/2023 0 Comments Adolescent Care Service Tips![]() The health needs of adolescents are complex and diverse, ranging from routine health care to medical emergencies, mental illness, sexual behavior, substance use, and chronic disease. Adolescents need specialized health services that provide them with the knowledge and skills necessary to live healthy, productive lives. A variety of primary care and specialty services are available to meet these needs. In addition to mainstream and safety-net primary care programs, adolescent patients may also receive hospital treatment in special inpatient units (e.g., for eating disorders, sexually transmitted infections [STIs], or clinical mental health problems). While these inpatient services are a significant resource for some adolescents, they have been criticized as over-reliant on the adolescent specialist and may not be appropriate to serve the full range of adolescent needs. Moreover, adolescents are often treated by hospital staff who have little adolescent health expertise and are unfamiliar with the developmental issues that affect this population. This is especially true of young people with substance use or mental health problems. Consequently, adolescent inpatient services are frequently inadequate to meet their needs. Some adolescent health experts have advocated the development of separate adolescent inpatient units as the best way to ensure that adolescents receive high-quality care from those trained to understand and address their unique needs. However, most hospital programs do not offer such units, and those that do are usually small and rely on a multidisciplinary team approach. Other barriers to adolescents’ access to adolescent care include the availability of primary care providers who are knowledgeable about adolescent health and who feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues with their patients. Increasing the comfort level of providers who interact with adolescents by providing them with training in adolescent health can significantly improve their screening and counseling practices. In one study, a training program to improve screening and counseling of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use; sexual behavior; and safety was effective in increasing provider satisfaction with adolescent care and in improving adolescents’ willingness to disclose information about risky or unhealthful behaviors. The adolescent health system has been shaped by a complex system of law, regulation, and public policy that creates a framework for the delivery of adolescent health services (English, 1999). This system comprises five objectives that serve as a basis for assessing the quality of current and future systems of health services: accessibility, acceptability, appropriateness, effectiveness, and equity. Adolescent health service access is influenced by many factors, including income and race and ethnicity. These variables can make it difficult for adolescents to obtain and use health services, which often result in higher rates of unmet health care need. See page to learn more about the Adolescent Care Services. In contrast, health care coverage is a strong indicator of access to and utilization of health services. Among adolescents who are insured, 92 percent report having a usual source of health care. The chapter then reviews a variety of public and private primary care programs and safety-net health centers that serve adolescents. Afterward, the chapter considers the impact of context on access to and use of adolescent health services, with particular attention to consent and confidentiality. To understand more about this subject, please read a related post here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescent_health.
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