The Teen Health Talk (THT) tool is a resource to support a structured and meaningful consultation with young people to support them to make healthy lifestyle choices.
This tool was designed initially to support general practice to identify unmet physical, emotional, and social needs, and to signpost young people to appropriate support. The THT tool is now being adapted to support non-clinical staff to engage young people in talking about their physical and emotional wellbeing, to signpost them to services, and encourage them to remain engaged with health services.
The Children & Young People’s Health Partnership (CYPHP) has trained several Youth Workers to use a modified version of the THT tool. After finishing the training, participants felt:
- More confident in talking to young people about their health.
- Better able to explain confidentiality to a young person.
- More aware of the risk factors associated with vulnerability.
CYPHP will be evaluating the Youth Worker training by convening focus groups to follow up with the youth workers' experience of working with young people. We are specifically looking at assessing improvements in knowledge and skills, as well as impact on outcomes.
CYPHP is working with partners to support the wider roll out of the THT tool to General Practice staff across Lambeth and Southwark. We are doing this by developing an educational film to explain why timely intervention in adolescence can have long term benefits and how the THT tool can help. This resource will soon be launched in summer 2018.
Click here if you would like to know more about the THT tool.
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