WORK WITH US

Recent years have seen tremendous gains in the health and wellbeing of all age groups, with the exception of teenagers. The biological, psychosocial and neuro-cognitive changes of the Teenage Decade are routinely overlooked or mistaken for moodiness and problematic behaviour. As a result, the unique health needs of young people are not being met, and problems that could be successfully addressed in adolescence are allowed to persist into adulthood. The impacts can last a lifetime, and represent a significant burden on the national health budget. The researchers of WH&Y believe it is time for the neglect to end, and for clinicians, policy makers, families and young people to work together to transform teenage healthcare, ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to enjoy the best possible health now, and into the future.

Our multi-disciplinary team of researchers is working on three essential tasks:

• Modelling the impact of investment
• Reinventing teenage healthcare
• Working together for change

As our work progresses, we will actively share our knowledge, insights and tools to support the prioritisation of better teenage healthcare in our community of practice.

Adolescence has always been a time of dramatic social, biological, psychological and neuro-cognitive change, but today’s teenagers are also dealing with technology-driven hyper connectivity, generational workplace transformations, economic insecurity and inequality, the aggressive marketing of unhealthy consumer goods, social exclusion and media stigmatisation. As a result, they are especially vulnerable to:

• mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety,
• unhealthy patterns of behaviour such as inactivity and poor diet,
• risky behaviour such as substance abuse, injury and unsafe sex,
• increases in chronic, non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.

The WH&Y Centre of Research Excellence is working with young people to transform healthcare for teenagers. Made up of young people aged between 16 and 21, the WH&Y Commission is the body that represents the interests and perspectives of young people, and plays an important role in defining research, designing trials, assessing the value of projects and thinking through how new findings can be translated into everyday healthcare.

Young people in the WH&Y Commission are active participants in regular meetings and forums with WH&Y researchers and their colleagues, and are involved in brainstorming new ideas and approaches to health research. They also take part in collaborative workshops and peer-promotion activities, and receive additional, valuable training and education.

If you are interested in applying to be a member of the WH&Y Commission, get in touch with us via info@why.org.au.