We know a lot about young people and their access to health services, including access to primary care. We know that young people do not always know where to go to get help, or know about their right to confidential healthcare, and that they are less likely to have the money to pay for a visit to a General Practitioner who does not bulk bill.
We know that young people are frequent users of hospital emergency departments. We also know that young people will look online for information about health and health services, and we need to keep pace with the emerging uses of technologies to inform and provide healthcare for young people.
The need to provide healthcare with the needs of young people in mind is now well recognised (see for example the recent series of articles in The Lancet 383 (9915) 2014, the recognition of adolescents and young adults as an area of specialisation in medicine, and the WHO report Health for the world’s adolescents: a second chance in the second decade ).
The need to consider adolescents as a particular group rests on three key ideas: first, that the diseases that start in middle age, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, have their roots in lifestyle factors that start or are consolidated in adolescence, second that optimising the health of adolescents lays the foundation for a healthy next generation, and third that injuries and illnesses that can be prevented in adolescence provide a good return on healthcare investment over a lifetime.
The Northern Rivers area has a strong tradition of helping GPs to be ‘youth friendly’ – that is, making health care understandable and accessible for young people. For young people, accessibility means more than just physical access - it means feeling that the health service welcomes young people, and that the service is affordable for them.
While some services such as headspace are specifically for young people, most health services, including general practices, are for a wide range of ages. These services often benefit from taking time to consider the needs of young people and seek the input of young people to make sure that their service is welcoming for young people.
“Diseases that start in middle age, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, have their roots in lifestyle factors that start or are consolidated in adolescence…”
NSW Health recognises that adolescence and young adulthood is a unique life stage that requires a specific response from health services, and is in the process of updating the NSW Youth Health Policy. This will guide how NSW Health services and partner agencies (including primary care services) can best work to promote the health of young people.
In order to inform the development of the new Youth Health Policy for NSW Health services, the Youth Health and Wellbeing team in NSW Health has commissioned research - called the ACCESS 3 research study - to gather information on how young people access and navigate health services, including how technology is influencing service use. The research is investigating the experiences of young people across NSW and is particularly seeking to describe the experiences of marginalised young people. The ACCESS study is led by The University of Sydney’s Department of General Practice, Westmead and involves a number of investigators from across NSW.
The ACCESS 3 research study will describe the experiences of young people accessing and navigating the health system in NSW, focusing on the barriers and facilitators to accessing health care for marginalised young people in NSW. The ACCESS 3 study will focus on young people aged 12-24 living in NSW who are:
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- living in rural/remote areas
- homeless or at risk of homelessness
- refugees or vulnerable migrants
- identifying as gender or sexuality diverse
The research study includes an online survey of young people in NSW, complemented by a more in-depth longitudinal study of a sub-sample of marginalised young people and their journeys through the health system over twelve months. The impact of digital media on access and navigation will also be explored in both studies. The perspectives of service providers on access, health system navigation and system inefficiencies will also be sought.
Dr Melissa Kang, a GP and academic with a long term interest in young people’s health, is leading the study.
“We know that in recent years, lots of young people are using the internet to get information about health, but we don’t have a good idea about how they use it to decide when to go to a doctor or a health service. We’d like to understand the things that make it easy and difficult for young people to get the health care they need, and how technology fits in with getting help. If young people see the internet as a great tool, then we need to let health services know what more they can do to engage young people,” Dr Kang said.
The aim of the study is to understand how young people make decisions about when and how they choose health services and what their experiences are like. The study hopes to improve young people’s access to the health care they need.
Research findings will be presented to key stakeholders from policy and practice to help translate the findings into policy-relevant recommendations.
The online survey is open to all young people aged 12 to 24 in NSW and can be completed anonymously. Young people can ask for help from their parents if needed.
The online study can be accessed at -
http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/general-practice/access/
You can read about the ACCESS study:
http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/general-practice/research/access.php
Further information on youth health resources can be accessed here:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/kids-families/youth/Pages/default.aspx
*Dr Carmen Jarrett works with the NSW Health Ministry’s Youth Health & Wellbeing Team.
