From the Mouths of Adolescents…
NSW Health and the NSW Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health have been working hard on developing a new NSW Youth Health Policy.
Part of the process involved a cross-sectional consultation, the report of which is available on the CAAH website or the YAA health Division Website.
The consultation was also convened online on the ReachOut website, where young people over four weeks were asked a series of questions on forums. One of the questions related to what works best in health care, and I thought it appropriate that one of the responses from a young person be shared here, as it is good advice for all health care and youth workers:
Don’t judge us…
Be open and accepting of what we tell you
Don’t talk in a language we won’t understand…
Use words we can take with us
Don’t break our confidentiality…
Explain to us about this so we are aware of it
Don’t focus on the negative aspects of our lives…
Help us to see the positives as well
Don’t try to force your values and perspectives onto us…
Help us to discover our possibilities and choices
Don’t try and lead us where you want us to go…
Walk beside us and offer a helping hand along the way
