Healthy
People Consortium Meeting and Public Hearing
"Building the Next Generation of Healthy People"
November 12 and 13, 1998
Capital Hilton, Washington, D.C.
Select Populations:
Adolescents andYoung Adults
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Major Themes: 1. Objectives:
- Critical Objectivesadolescents with
disabilities, an important but often neglected group, should be included as a critical
objective. Data are already available to track these adolescents. Inclusion of objective
as a "critical objective" needs careful consideration.
- Access to careshould be included as
an objective to emphasize that adolescents are often not getting the care that they need.
Managed Care needs to be brought into the conversation about addressing adolescents'
health care needs, as often recommended counseling is not covered by insurance plans and
is, therefore, not provided.
- Ties to other chaptersshould have
stronger links with the MICH, Injury/Violence, and Physical Activity chapters.
2. Data Issues:
- Are we collecting data that is specifically tailored for the
objectives, or do our objectives simply reflect what can be collected from the most
relevant data sources? Does the latter produce the most useful objectives? Better
behavioral data are needed for adolescents as well as for younger adolescents. A
suggestion was made to broaden the BRFSS to include all family members.
- Age Breakdownsshould follow the
definitions as delineated by the Society of Adolescent Medicine (early, middle and late
adolescents). Objectives should be formulated to reflect developmental stages of
adolescence. National data sources do not follow these age breakdowns, and it would be
costly to change them. This is problematic, as objectives might not accurately reflect the
specific health problems of adolescents. Objectives for teen pregnancy, for example, only
focus on 15-17 year olds, though other ages may experience high rates of pregnancy.
3. Programmatic Issues:
- Fundingmore block grant programs are
needed - this could allow for communities to decide what is important and what will be
successful programs in individual communities. Examples of successful and unsuccessful
programs should be shared.
- Health Education ProgramsMore
comprehensive school health programs are needed, including more school nurses and programs
that comprehensively address the needs of adolescents. These programs could include
parenting classes beginning in junior high/middle school. Also, more comprehensive health
education programs for incarcerated youth are needed.
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