Primary Care for Adolescents

Abstract

Adolescence is a time when a young person develops his or her identity, acquires greater autonomy and independence, experiments and takes risks and grows mentally and physically. To successfully navigate these changes, an accessible and health system when needed is essential. We assessed the structure and content of national primary care services against these standards in the field of adolescent health services. The main criteria identified by adolescents as important for primary care are as follows: accessibility, staff attitude, communication in all its forms, staff competency and skills, confidential and continuous care, age appropriate environment, involvement in health care, equity and respect and a strong link with the community. We found that although half of the Models of Child Health Appraised countries have adopted adolescent-specific policies or guidelines, many countries do not meet the current standards of quality health care for adolescents. For example, the ability to provide emergency mental health care or respond to life-threatening behaviour is limited. Many countries provide good access to contraception, but specialised care for a pregnant adolescent may be hard to find. Access needs to be improved for vulnerable adolescents; greater advocacy should be given to adolescent health and the promotion of good health habits. Adolescent health services should be well publicised, and adolescents need to feel empowered to access them.

Vaikų profilaktiniai patikrinimai pirminėje asmens sveikatos priežiūroje: literatūros apžvalga

“…Profilaktinės vaikų bei paauglių sveikatos patikros tikslas yra įvertinti jų raidos harmoningumą, identifikuoti sveikatos sutrikimus, užkirsti kelią naujų ligų atsiradimui. Pasaulio sveikatos organizacija rekomenduoja, kad visame pasaulyje sveikatos priežiūros įstaigose vaikų ir paauglių sveikatos priežiūros paslaugos būtų atliekamos ne vien įrodymais grįstomis, saugumą užtikrinančiomis, bet ir efektyviomis priemonėmis, atitinkančiomis jų amžių, vystymosi etapą [3]. Lietuvoje kaip ir visame pasaulyje atliekami fizinės sveikatos profilaktiniai patikrinimai, tačiau nėra tikslingai atliekami psichinės sveikatos profilaktiniai patikrinimai vyresnio (7-17 metų) amžiaus vaikams.…”