What the Health Unit is Doing  |  What Parents Can Do

Adolescents are a diverse group that is competent, interested, talented and skilled. They need supportive relationships in the family. If your teen feels connected to school, peers and the community, they have a better chance of living healthy and successful lives.

Issues That Are Important To Youth Are:

Body image:  Boys’ and girls’ bodies are changing rapidly and they are developing a new sense of themselves.

Identity: "Who am I?" & "Who do I want to be?"...these are 2 questions of this time.

Relationship with parents:  This is very important to teenagers, but they may not admit it! Relationships can be stable, without too much conflict, or not!

Peers/Friends: They spend a lot of time talking, hanging out with each other, exploring different identities, ideas and the nature of relationships.

Sexual Health: This stage has a high degree of experimentation. Adolescents want to know “What’s this all about?”

What the Health Unit Is Doing:

“Youth health” has been designated as a  priority of the Health Unit and staff follow these guiding principles when working with youth:

• Taking a holistic approach to health: We consider health in a broad way and incorporate the determinants of health into our programs. These factors take into account the physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual well-being of a person. Find out more about Social Determinants of Health at the World Health Organization 
• Using approaches that are positive, strength-based and help communities to take an active role:  We find out what is happening in Thunder Bay and District and then build on strengths within individuals, groups and communities to help people take care of one another.
• Involving youth as active participants: We allow youth to increase control in their lives and improve their own health by building skills and helping them make decisions about programming and activities.
• Encouraging youth in decision making and planning: We are committed to building and improving processes that allow young people to become involved in the planning and delivery of our health promotion activities.
• Focusing on youth and their environments: We recognize that it is important to show how different community issues and various governing levels in society are connected to youth. 
• Working together with other organizations: We value and utilize the excellent work and contributions of the wide variety of youth-serving agencies in and across the District of Thunder Bay.
• Promoting accessibility and diversity: We work with youth “on their turf”-- where they feel comfortable. We also respect their similarities, differences, skills and talents.
• Researching current trends: We conduct surveys and analyze the data that helps us create and revise programming to better serve youth. Our program researches current data on youth trends and programs. The effects of parental, peer and community support are also studied closely to increase program effectiveness.

Youth Programming at the Health Unit:

The primary goal of the Child Health section of the Public Health Mandate of Ontario is to promote the health of children and youth. At the Health Unit, the Family Health Program is responsible for achieving this goal. Some of the ways that the Family Health team works toward this goal are by:

• providing teen prenatal education through St. Patrick’s High School and Sam-Misol (Single Adolescent Mothers-Mothers in Search of Learning) program at Confederation College;
• being an active partner of the Community Youth Coalition (CYC);
• participating as the professional leaders for the Youth Advisory Council (YAC);
• Coordinating Youth Week Thunder Bay.

Find out more about Youth programs at the Health Unit at the Family Health section of the website: www.tbdhu.com/HBHF

Other Youth information is also available at Teenwavez, which is a separate site with information about a range of topics, help with homework and some interactive quizzes.

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What Parents Can Do!

You can help adolescents get through the teen years:

• Think back to your own teen years; try to remember what it was like. Share these memories to help put your teenager more at ease. It helps your teen to know what Mom or Dad went through. Expect some mood changes and be prepared for some conflict as he or she finds their way through this stage. The more you know, the more able you are to prepare your child.
•  Talk to your children early (before they are teenagers). The sooner you let them know they can trust and talk to you, the better chance you have of keeping them open during the teenage years. Don’t avoid the awkward subjects such as sex, drugs, alcohol, menstruation, wet dreams, etc. Answer their questions and ask your own questions while still respecting your teenager’s privacy. Find out about talking about tough issues at the Kaiser Foundation's Talk with Your Kids site or at the Take a Break with your Kid website.
• Put yourself in your teen’s place. It’s normal for your teen to be concerned or self conscious. Tell your teen it’s OK to feel grown-up one minute and like a little child the next.
•  Choose your battles. So your teenagers want to wear black nail polish, dye their hair, and wear strange clothes! It may be worth it to let them. These things are shocking, but they don’t last long and are harmless.
•  Make and keep appropriate rules. Reward your teen for being trustworthy.
• Monitor what your teen sees and reads. Television, books, magazines and the Internet are sources of tons of information. Not all of it is good for teens. Set limits on the amount of time spent in front of the TV or computer, and find out what he/she is learning from media. Who is he/she chatting or emailing with on the computer?
• Know the warning signs. Know what to expect and what things may be trouble. Get help sooner rather than later. Warning signs include:
  • fast, drastic change in behaviour
  • sudden change in friends
  • skipping school on a regular basis
  • extreme weight loss or gain
  • talks or jokes about suicide
  • run-ins with the police
  • increase in alcohol or drug use
• Try to keep your relationship warm and understanding. Be involved in your teenager’s life. Encourage him/her to get involved with many positive opportunities that are out there for them.

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