Promoting health among teenagers.
The need for health promotion programmes geared to adolescents has never been more acute. Today's youth lives in a "throw away society" characterized by an impermanence of both objects and human relations--which works counter to traditional health values and practices. The result has been a rise in teenage drug-addiction, suicide, abortion, delinquency and alcoholism. How can we make nurses and health services more accessible to adolescents? Below, Angela Gillis describes a model for adolescent health promotion and provides some practical suggestions for dealing more effectively with this age group.