People’s Community Clinic and its Center for Adolescent Health hosted their 2022 Adolescent Health Symposium on March 23 and 24, 2022. This free virtual event was a networking and learning opportunity for youth-serving professionals, health care providers, parents and adolescents.
The Adolescent Health Symposium was part of CAH’s participation in International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW), which took place March 20-26. The 2022 IAHW focused on “Transitions” from childhood to adulthood, physically and mentally, from a pre-pandemic life into a life shaped by a pandemic, and from dependence to independence. Every year, this worldwide collaboration brings young people and their supporters together to raise awareness about teen health.
WATCH People’s Adolescent Health Symposium ’22, Day 1
Kinda Abou-Hamden, a freshman at The University of Texas and an IAHW youth ambassador, advocated on behalf of youth health issues. There were more than three dozen youth ambassadors from around the world representing such countries as Australia, Chile, England, France, India, Switzerland and Ukraine.
“The world is very different now than it was even just a few years ago, and the challenges that adolescents are facing are different too. However, sometimes it feels like my age group is reduced to statistics. This event was unique because it attempted to understand and address our concerns, but more than that, it treated us like collaborators,” Abou-Hamden.
Abou-Hamden added, “It’s a very special and rare thing as a teenager to be able to work together with doctors and researchers on the issues that are actually affecting me and my peers. I’m honored to have been a part of a worldwide youth network collaborating on adolescent health issues and am grateful to People’s for making this program possible for me and other Central Texas teens.”
One of this year’s Adolescent Health Symposium keynote speakers was Dr. S. Craig Watkins, a University of Texas professor and internationally recognized expert on social media’s impact on young people. Other sessions given by local and national experts included Broadening Our Horizons on Neurodiversity and Mental Health, Healing-Centered Engagement to Promote Health, Discussing Sexual Health and Healthy Relationships With Youth, and Health Care Transition for Young Adults. All symposium sessions included members of the CAH Youth Advisory Council.
WATCH People’s Adolescent Health Symposium ’22, Day 2
The World Health Organization defines young people as anyone between the ages of 10 and 24 years old. People’s Center for Adolescent Health provides primary and specialized care for teens and young adults from diverse backgrounds, and includes a Youth Advisory Council to promote youth engagement and community outreach. The center’s staff and youth volunteers present on best practices in adolescent health at state and national conferences.
About International Adolescent Health Week:
International Adolescent Health Week, celebrated annually during the third full week in March, is a grassroots initiative for young people, adolescent health care providers, teachers, parents, youth advocates and communities to work toward improving the health and well-being of the over 1 billion adolescents around the globe today. The weeklong event started as Teen Health Week in the U.S. in 2016 and rapidly grew to a global celebration. International Adolescent Health Week is led by adolescent health members of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine IAHW Special Interest Group and the International Association of Adolescent Health.