Nothing about them with out them! International Adolescent Health Week: For and by adolescents

NOTHING ABOUT THEM WITHOUT THEM!

INTERNATIONAL ADOLESCENT HEALTH WEEK: FOR AND BY ADOLESCENTS

By Laura A. Offutt MD, FACP

“I believe that teenagers require different health education than other age groups, and I want people to understand what issues, unique to our generation, teenagers are dealing with socially, mentally, and physically.” Lauren, 16, Souderton Area High School.

March brings spring and International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW). This month, communities all over the world will be participating in this annual health campaign consisting of dynamic participatory events to inspire adolescents and their communities to advocate for a successful transition into adulthood. Initiated as “Pennsylvania Teen Health Week” in 2016, and observed globally since 2018, IAHW engages adolescents through health-related activities and education, but also importantly, is shaped by local and international youth leaders.

“I think that teen health should be a bigger priority in our health system.” Christopher, 16, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School

Each year, Penn Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (PAYAM) in Radnor, has spearheaded IAHW community activities in the Delaware Valley along with local youth volunteers and honoring Philadelphia metropolitan area students as Teen Health Champions. This year, PAYAM is working with a group of teens from a dozen local school to imagine and plan this year’s PAYAM IAHW event. The new Teen Advisory Council (TAC) was created to encourage youth involvement as adolescent health advocates and to serve as liaisons with area youth. This group of teens advises PAYAM and advocates for their peers through a variety of projects. They have shared what they consider features of an “ideal adolescent medicine practice” which PAYAM is using to self-assess and incorporate; they are creating a peer-to-peer Teen Health PSA about a topic of their choosing; and they are community IAHW peer advocates through their special IAHW teen health event. “I joined the Penn Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Teen Advisory Council because it’s important to have good representation when it comes to making decisions about teen health, and I want to keep informing people about taking the mental and physical steps towards being healthy.” Madisen, 16, Downingtown East High School

This year, due to the ongoing Covid pandemic, the advisors were charged with imagining a physically distant or virtual event. After some energetic brainstorming for adolescent health events that would be engaging and fun for young people, the TAC narrowed their ideas to four final propsals: a healthy cooking / nutrition class, a meditation and yoga class (perhaps with a goat!), an event featuring a celebrity speaking about their mental health experience, and an orienteering hunt with health related activity stations. Determined by a vote, it was settled that the TAC would host a virtual cooking class for teens. PAYAM has partnered with the Vetri Community Partnership, who will lead a hands-on workshop with a focus on recipes that are nutritious, economical, and make teens feel good inside and out. Teens will learn simple culinary techniques, discuss nutrition and wellness, and learn how to navigate convenience foods, and to celebrate

the communal power of food. TAC members have designed their own promotional materials and are engaging school faculty, administration, and school clubs to encourage young people to attend this event.

Harnessing the power and ubiquity of social media, the TAC has decided to do an IAHW Social Media Takeover of Real Talk with Dr. Offutt, an interactive teen health platform. Via Instagram, the teens will share a Day in The Life of teen eating (the good, the bad and the ugly) as well as easy nutrition tips. Some of the teen advisors have successfully championed IAHW to their school administrators and have arranged an entire week of different school activities and lime green spirit wear to highlight the importance of adolescent health.

“It is important to me to help create an awareness and give personal insight on how best to support and improve teenagers’ health experiences to best benefit their lives.” Eve, 14, The Baldwin School

Penn Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (PAYAM) is a unique medical practice that focuses solely on the needs of young people ages 12 to 29. This specialized practice provides consultative and primary care in a comprehensive manner with a full understanding of the physical and psychological changes associated with transition to adulthood. PAYAM has represented the Philadelphia region in International Adolescent Health Week activities since its inception.

“Transition,” the theme for International Adolescent Health Week 2022, was selected by another group of young people representing 30 countries around the world in their roles as IAHW Youth Ambassadors. These young people wanted to reflect adolescence as the time on life’s journey between childhood to adulthood, as well as this time of transition throughout the world – from a pre-Covid world into a pandemic world, from online or disrupted education to in-person education, from older and more homogenous world leadership to younger and more diverse representation.

“To me, “transition” means a process of challenging change, a term closely related to the stage of adolescence because it implies a period of physical, social and emotional changes. This period is an interim between total dependence on the family during childhood and independence in adult life. It is especially challenging, not only because of the intrinsic changes of the adolescent person, but also because we are in one of the most uncertain phases of history about the future: health crisis, climate crisis, social crisis (inequalities), triggers to quality and affordable education, among others.” Ruby, 22, Peru.

Adolescent health issues that predated Covid-19 remain important, even during an ongoing global pandemic. Therefore, organizations are invited to observe IAHW by highlighting any adolescent health issues relevant in their communities, from encouraging healthy behaviors and habits to advocating for youthfocused policy addressing healthy and safe communities, socioeconomic determinants of health, and adolescents’ rights.

During IAHW, from March 20-26, Philadelphia will illuminate several prominent buildings lime green for the 5th year in a row.

For more information about the PAYAM / Vetri Community Partnership Teen Cooking workshop, please contact IAHWPenn@gmail.com For more information about Penn Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, please visit: pennmedicine.org/ for-patients-and-visitors/find-a-program-or-service/ primary-care/adolescent-and-young-adult-medicine For more information about International Adolescent Health Week, please visit: Internationaladolescenthealthweek.org Twitter: @IAHW2022 Instagram: @adolescent_health_week Facebook: @internationaladolescenthealthweek #IAHW2022

Laura A. Offutt, MD, FACP Founder and Director, International Adolescent Health Week Medical Director, Penn Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Teen Advisory Council Host, Real Talk with Dr. Offutt