Effective Counseling and Services
Discussing sexuality and sexual activity with young people provides an excellent opportunity to build trust, convey essential health information, and strengthen adolescents’ self-efficacy.
Discussing sexuality and sexual activity with young people provides an excellent opportunity to build trust, convey essential health information, and strengthen adolescents’ self-efficacy. Yet research shows that health care providers struggle to address this sensitive topic with their adolescent patients adequately. AHI offers an array of tools to help providers and health centers practice strengths-based sexual health care to adolescents.
Power Meetings help interdisciplinary teams form concrete, realistic work plans for sustainable practice change through video vignettes from peer providers, sample workflows and strategies, and the selection of manageable action steps.
To help sites tackle common challenges with LARC provision, we created the Power Meeting: LARC Access, an interactive, web-based tool that guides teams through one meeting where they work through decision trees and activities, and create a customized, actionable plan in the course of two hours.
AHI’s Timely Topics Trainings are self-paced web modules that blend vignettes from youth and subject matter experts with salient research and practice-based activities to emerging needs in adolescent care.
CONTENT WARNING: This module broadly discusses trauma and sexual violence. Depending on your personal experience, some of the content may be emotional and challenging.
Youth-friendly sexual and mental health care are two of adolescents’ biggest priorities in their overall health care. AHI’s youth council members report feeling like their therapists often aren’t comfortable talking about sexual health, including relationships, sexuality, and gender identity. Behavioral health providers have the opportunity to set an affirming, supportive atmosphere for adolescents to discuss these topics in a safe, confidential space.
Timely Topics: Adolescent Sexual Health for Behavioral Health Clinicians was developed in partnership with AHI’s Teen Advisory Council and clinicians, and it is intended to assist behavioral health care providers in navigating strengths-based, youth-friendly sexual health-related conversations with adolescent and young adult clients.
Sparks are pre-packaged, free to use, and include a PowerPoint presentation, a facilitator script, and follow-up materials.
Consider how staff and providers can create a climate where adolescents are more likely to discuss their sexual health openly and honestly.
Explore the ways Title X clinic staff can create a nonjudgmental culture for adolescent and young adult clients who present for pregnancy options counseling.
Deepen your understanding of minor consent laws for your state.
Explore best practices for providing confidential care to adolescents.
AHI Starter Guides are mini-toolkits that offer concrete, actionable steps to improve adolescent care.
Chlamydia screening is not always offered to asymptomatic youth and may not be offered outside sexual health visits. Review strategies and best-practices for increasing chlamydia screening rates in this Starter Guide.
It can be challenging to keep adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients up to date on vaccines. This Starter Guide includes tips on increasing AYA vaccination rates at your health center.
Conversations about risk-taking behaviors can sometimes be difficult for health care professionals to navigate. This Starter Guide includes strategies and best practices for assessing risk-taking behaviors with adolescent patients.
Visual cues to help you build and enhance youth-friendly environments.
AHI partners with organizations to develop and facilitate engaging webinars on adolescent-centered care. Through the delivery of rich content and use of interactive features, we provide a meaningful, web-based educational experience.
Join AHI for an in-depth look at a shared decision-making model for adolescent contraceptive counseling and explore its place within a reproductive justice framework.
This webinar took place on Wednesday, September 23, 2020. Access the recording today.
Join AHI for an in-depth look at a shared decision-making model for adolescent contraceptive counseling and explore its place within a reproductive justice framework. Conversations will delve into the benefits and challenges of adopting a shared decision-making approach in contraceptive counseling, identify shared decision-making strategies, and discuss the latest in contraceptive counseling methods.
Presenters joining AHI:
- Alana Otto, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Adolescent Medicine, University of Michigan Department of Pediatrics
- Christina Arzate, MPH, Contraceptive Counselor | Outreach Coordinator, The Right Time, Contraceptive Choice Center (C3), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Washington University School of Medicine
Join AHI and the School-Based Health Alliance for an engaging webinar on the strengths-based approaches to adolescent sexual health and being an ask-able adult.
Is your practice interested in learning more about providing sexual health services to adolescents? We help health centers across the country become more adolescent-centered. Learn more about working with us!
