Adolescence health and the tasks of the health services

Abstract

Adolescence begins with the physical changes of puberty and ends when the individual becomes an adult. It is a period of changes in the course of which the person passes from dependence to independence and undergoes an identity crisis that finds expression in experiences that are not always pleasant and in conflictive behaviour. The development of identity includes sexual maturation which influences the need for separation from the parents, a separation that runs parallel to the strengthening of peer relationships. The family must readjust its dynamic and its workings and a greater autonomy between parents and children must come about. Adolescence brings the appearance of a series of health problems, outstanding of which are behaviour patterns involving risk and other upheavals such as those relating to sexuality (pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases), substance abuse and emotional problems that at times find expression as depression and at others as eating disorders. Adolescents have important health needs and at the same time experience difficulties in obtaining the appropriate help. Health professionals must establish relationships of trust with adolescents (who require confidentiality) and adopt strategies for getting around the difficulties in interviews, especially with adolescents who are not very communicative. But there is also need for work with the parents, directed at their maintaining their role, but adapted to the new circumstances, and at their facing up to the personal challenges, and for joint interviews for understanding and influencing the family dynamic. All of this requires preparation of the professionals and the organisation of care resources.