Discussion 2 WK 4

Good Health in Youth Sets the Stage for Well-being in Later Life

Good Health in Youth Sets the Stage for Well-being in Later Life Program Transcript VERONICA RIEMER: You're listening to the WHO Podcast and my name is Veronica Riemer. In this episode, we look at the importance of communication during adolescence. Good communication is key to working with young people. It helps build trust and encourages them to seek advice and use health services. It establishes and maintains good relationships and is an active process that involves listening, questioning, understanding, and responding. This August marks the beginning of the International Year of Youth, for which the theme is dialog and mutual understanding. Good health is important for young people as it sets the stage for well being in later life. While most young people are healthy, more than 1.8 million young people age 15 to 24 die each year, mostly due to preventable causes. Many more engage in behaviors that are dangerous not only to their current state of health, but also puts their health at risk for years to come. Promoting healthy lifestyles and taking steps to better educate and protect this group from health risks will ensure longer, more productive lives. Launching the International Year of Youth, Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, outlined some of the main issues affecting young people today. THORAYA OBAID: At the beginning of this International Year of Youth, we commit to working together to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities facing young people wherever they are, whatever the situation they find themselves; whether in peace or in conflict zones, those affected by poverty and those affected by natural disaster. We pledge to make youth a priority in our work, and in partnership with young people to identify ways to promote the leadership of young women and men. VERONICA RIEMER: Dr. Chandra-Mouli leads the Adolescent Health Team in WHO's Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development. He tells us how WHO's providing communication training for health workers so that they can respond to adolescents both effectively and with sensitivity. DR. VENKATRAMAN CHANDRA-MOULI: We have developed training materials to help health workers understand and work with adolescents in real-life situations. For example, when an adolescent comes in with a parent and is not communicating at all and the parent does all the talking, the health worker needs to understand that there is something going on here. They have to deal with in a

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. 1

Good Health in Youth Sets the Stage for Well-being in Later Life

way that takes into account the concerns and needs of the parent, while at the same time recognizing clearly that without talking to the adolescent in private, there will be important information not gathered. And so they need to be able to have the parent wait outside while they talk to the adolescent in private. And then they'll need to think about how they can share some of this information with the adolescent's permission with the parent. These are the kinds of things that we help health workers build their abilities. This is a huge challenge not just in developing countries, but in developed countries. In most countries of the world, rich and poor, developed and undeveloped, there are no training programs for health workers in this. So doctors and nurses in Germany or in the UK are struggling as much of doctors in Uganda and India or elsewhere. VERONICA RIEMER: Ivy Kigundu is 16 years old and from Uganda, but she lives and goes to school in France. IVY KIGUNDU: I think that a lot of the health problems that affect me and my friends start from having worries or uncertainty and feeling like we can't really talk to our parents or teachers about it. And these worries can be about school, the social pressures, wanting to fit in, the fear of being different a lot and following the crowd just to have friends. And I see all my friends doing something, I'll think it's normal and I'll want to try it too-- whether that's for example, smoking or drinking alcohol, or even having sex. But there's a time where you have to try to limit yourself and try to say no sometimes. In different parts of the world, teenagers are affected by different issues. Like in France or Switzerland the main things are smoking and drinking. And that's because it's so liberal here. Whereas in southern Africa or in my country, you see some young people that smoke and drink and that's on the increase; but I think that HIV/AIDS is much more of a serious and important issue that's really happening in my country. VERONICA RIEMER: Paul Bloem works at WHO headquarters and provides support to countries in their work on adolescent health. He is also the father of two adolescents. He tells us that a supportive environment is critical in creating confidence and self-esteem in young people. PAUL BLOEM: Young people, when given the opportunities will make the right choices to behave in ways that their health is not affected. As societies, as parents, and as health workers, I think our duty is to make sure that we make the environment for young people in such a way that they can make the best of their lives to stay healthy and to develop and grow up into productive young men and women. [MUSIC PLAYING]

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. 1

Good Health in Youth Sets the Stage for Well-being in Later Life

VERONICA RIEMER: That's all for this episode of a WHO Podcast. Thanks for listening. For more information about the International Year of Youth, you can access the links on the transcript page of this podcast. You can also follow the International Year on Facebook and Twitter. For the World Health Organizations, this is Veronica Riemer in Geneva.

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. 1