A Modern Framework of Adolescence Health Programs

Abstract

Adolescence represents a sensitive time period during an individual’s development during which physical, psychological, and social risk factors for non-communicable diseases are established. As such, there is a necessity to engage adolescents in planning and decision-making processes that will affect their future health. This paper describes the need for more innovative and transversal actions, starting from the utility of a multidisciplinary and systemic approach to health. One way in which this can be achieved is by shifting adolescent health programs (AHPs) from a clinically oriented to an education-based model. In particular, AHPs need to consider a personalized and systemic approach to the well-being of adolescents in order to potentiate their strengths and improve weaknesses, enhancing self-esteem, empowerment, and resilience. This is in line with the complexity of human physiology and psychology, as well as scientific evidence showing that several factors significantly influence health status including lifestyle, social context, emotional experiences, and cognitive skills, as demonstrated by the AVATAR Project (“A new purpose for promotion and eVAluation of healTh and well-being Among healthy teenageRs”). This project—which provides a new framework for AHPs—was carried out in Italy and enrolled healthy students as subjects, and aimed to promote well-being in adolescents using a systemic and multistake-holder approach that involved creating a network composed of the different figures and environments around adolescents and moving toward a more school-based and student-centered approach to adolescent health education.