As children move toward adolescence and young adulthood, the office space once thought of as comforting and fun may seem geared towards little kids. Having a safe and welcoming place that feels like it was made for them helps adolescents feel comfortable becoming more involved in their healthcare. You can help reduce the barriers that may prevent youth from accessing health services by creating an adolescent-friendly practice.
Resources for Creating an Adolescent-Friendly Practice
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Bright Futures | National health promotion and prevention guidelines followed in Vermont which informs our periodicity schedule. Recommend annual well-care visits for adolescents. |
| Vermont Child Health Improvement Program- Adolescent Health / Youth Health Improvement Initiative (YHII) | The Youth Health Improvement Initiative is currently engaged in increasing adolescent rates of well care visits. YHII also works with Vermont Rays to engage youth in improving access and utilization of preventative care. |
| Adolescent and Young Adult Health | Information from Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs on current initiatives, resources for states, and best practices for adolescent health. |
| ToolKit: Youth-Centered Care | Strategies and resources to implement quality youth-centered care in your practice. |
| Adolescent Health Initiative | Trainings, videos, materials and models to implement youth friendly care. |
| Teens Visiting a Health Clinic | Tips from the CDC on creating a teen-friendly reproductive health visit. |
| Paving the Road to Good Health: Strategies for increasing Medicaid Adolescent Well-Care Visits | Guide to support states and their partners in increasing adolescent well-care visit rates. Providers can support these efforts by ensuring they are offering youth access to health care in an adolescent-friendly environment. |
Engaging Youth in Care
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Getting to ‘Y’ | Training for students where they learn to analyze Youth Risk Behavior Survey data and produce a Student Executive Summary which includes strengths, areas of concern, and a plan of action for their school. Learn how to host a community dialogue event to share their finding and lead discussions. |
| Youth Services Advisory Council | The Council promotes, advocates for, and monitors the continued evolution of service systems for young people, advocates for improved quality of and access to these services, organizes policy responses, and involves youth, parents and communities in designing these services. |
| Youth Engagement | A library of profiles of state public health youth advisory structures, supporting documents, reports, and tools from 17 state public health youth advisory structures. |
| Adolescent Health and Youth Engagement | Resources developed by NCEMCH on various adolescent health topics. |