Yesterday was caught up with friends at certain event and had a conversation on ”what is a youth friendly health service?” and what should be expected when someone visits one?
A youth health service is a FREE, SAFE, and CONFIDENTIAL, a place for young people. They’ve got doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, health education officers, and they have to offer case management
Young people should not be required to take Medicare card, the staff/nurses/doctors should be friendly, non-judgmental, and used to working with young people. It can be really hard to find someone you can trust and talk to, even just to ask questions, so these youth friendly health services are there to make it easier to open up and get help with whatever young person is going through without feeling ashamed or scared
At local youth friendly health service, young people should be able to get a sexual health check, pregnancy tests, pregnancy support and advice, contraception, counselling, support and heaps of other general health stuff
“Are you gonna tell my parents?” Generally, if someone is 14 years or over, parents should not see health records, unless the person agrees to show them
If you would like to make a visit to your local youth friendly health service always give them a call to make an appointment or just drop in and check them out, and remember, they are FREE, SAFE and CONFIDENTIAL
And if your health centers have no youth friendly health services, this is the right time to advocate for them. Talk to the concerned government officials.
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