Young people should have access to affordable, youth-friendly and accessible health services.

What is the situation?      

Young people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods:

  • Are more vulnerable to specific health risks.
  • Are less likely to use and have access to quality health services.

 

What should public authorities do?

  • Provide access to health services, health information services, and social services, of high quality and are youth-friendly and available online.
  • Design and deliver health and social services in a way that recognises the needs of young people who experience multiple forms of exclusion. For example, young Roma and migrant women, young people suffering from poor mental health, young people with disabilities, young people with HIV..
  • Equip health practitioners with the skills and resources to allow them to work with young people from different cultures and backgrounds. This could include language skills, interpretation services, or cultural mediation services.
  • Invest in the development and delivery of support services, including crisis counselling and educational programmes that seek to improve the health and wellbeing of young people in a holistic way. Engage community-based youth workers, social workers, educators and nurses in this process. These programmes could focus on substance misuse and addiction; sexual and reproductive health; early, unplanned or crisis pregnancy; mental health; exercise; nutrition; and family and work.
  • Invest in and support the personal and professional development of medical practitioners, nurses and community health workers who work in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. They should have the skills, knowledge and attitudes to work that are youth-friendly, culturally sensitive and gender sensitive.
  • Ensure that health strategies are responsive to the needs of young people. Young people and youth workers from disadvantaged neighbourhoods should be directly involved in developing and making decisions about these strategies.
  • Promote sport and physical activity as a way of maintaining a healthy lifestyle inside and outside school. Ensure that young people have full and equal access to public sports facilities and where necessary, invest in their provision or improvement.

Examples from the Enter! Project

In “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, the Centre for Human Rights “AMOS” Bitola worked with 300 young people from city of Bitola aged 15-25 to promote their access to social rights in the areas of health and education by increasing their knowledge about HIV. Through the project 15 youth peer educators were trained to deliver workshops with young people about HIV prevention. These peer educators went on to train young people across the city, prepare educational materials, and generate media attention to raise awareness about the HIV prevention amongst the city’s youth population. The project resulted in meetings with local municipalities, schools and civil society to integrate sex education into schools and improve local health strategies and action plans.

In Finland, the City of Lappeenranta Youth Service, Sammonlahti Youth Centre set up a project called ‘Smokers Quitters’ with a group of 11 young people. The project addressed a gap in health service provision which resulted in young people under the age of 18 being unable to access support to quit smoking. Working in partnership with a local school, the project leaders set up team building activities, provided information about the smoking and smoking cessation, and worked with the group to develop strategies to quit smoking.

In Portugal, ECOS - Cooperative of Education, Cooperation and Development set up the project ‘TALK ABOUT IT!’ with the aim of creating spaces for dialogue between decision-makers, organisations working with youth and young people, in order to promote youth access to sexual and reproductive rights. Through a youth consultation, a public event, and a final publication, the project identified and highlighted the barriers young people face in accessing their sexual and reproductive rights. The diverse range of participants in the project also provided an opportunity to improve the communication between young people, organisations and decision-makers.