The Adolescent Health Indicators Recommended By The Global Action For Measurement Of Adolescent Health

About 1.3 billion of the world’s population are adolescents aged 10-19 years. Adolescents bear long periods of exposure to, and consequences of health risks yet are often least able to influence their environment and make decisions for their own well-being. Historically, the world has lacked comprehensive indicators for adolescent health, which has hindered the effective development of age-specific policies and interventions and tracking of progress towards health targets. This document presents a list of 47 indicators recommended by the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent health (GAMA), established in 2018 by WHO in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, the World Bank Group, and the World Food Programme. The 47 adolescent health indicators are the result of a structured, participatory 5-year selection process. They are applicable to all adolescent population subgroups and span six domains: (1) programmes, policies and laws, (2) systems performance and interventions, (3) social, cultural, economic, educational, and environmental health determinants, (4) health behaviours and risks, (5) subjective well-being and (6) health outcomes and conditions. Most countries already have data for many of these indicators available. Bringing this information together will help benchmark progress, identify priorities for action, and allocate resources efficiently. By prioritizing adolescent health, young individuals are empowered to reach their full potential, and contribute to building healthier and sustainable communities and societies.

The second edition of the AA-HA! guidance is a collaborative effort spearheaded by the World Health Organization in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN WOMEN, World Bank, the World Food Program and PMNCH. Building on the solid foundation of the first edition and voices of adolescents and young adults around the world, this multi-agency product has evolved to incorporate valuable learnings from the past five years, including of the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts. Latest estimates of mortality and disease burden, updated evidence, and a broader focus on wellbeing make our second edition a cutting-edge resource for policy makers in the area of adolescent health and well-being. AA-HA! 2.0 offers insights into the current health and well-being landscape of the world’s over 1.2 billion adolescents, underlining evidence-based solutions and presenting strategies for priority setting, planning, implementing, and evaluating health and well-being programmes. The inclusion of key implementation strategies and real-world case studies make this guide a practical tool for governments in designing and implementing a new generation of adolescent health and well-being programmes.

Increasing public investments in health care services for low-income and special needs children and adolescents in the United States have raised questions about whether these efforts improve their health outcomes. Yet it is difficult to assess the general health status and health care quality for younger populations, especially those at risk of poor health outcomes, because the United States has no national information system that can provide timely, comprehensive, and reliable indicators in these areas for children and adolescents. Without such a system in place, it is difficult to know whether and how selected health care initiatives and programs contribute to children's health status. Child and Adolescent Health and Health Care Quality identifies key advances in the development of pediatric health and health care quality measures, examines the capacity of existing federal data sets to support these measures, and considers related research activities focused on the development of new measures to address current gaps. This book posits the need for a comprehensive strategy to make better use of existing data, to integrate different data sources, and to develop new data sources and collection methods for unique populations. Child and Adolescent Health and Health Care Quality looks closely at three areas: the nature, scope, and quality of existing data sources; gaps in measurement areas; and methodological areas that deserve attention. Child and Adolescent Health and Health Care Quality makes recommendations for improving and strengthening the timeliness, quality, public transparency, and accessibility of information on child health and health care quality. This book will be a vital resource for health officials at the local, state, and national levels, as well as private and public health care organizations and researchers.

WHO has progressively strengthened its work for adolescent health, growing its portfolio of research, norms and standards, country support and advocacy, and expanding the scope of work across over 17 departments, regional and country offices to address the multifaceted needs of the global adolescent population. Central to a coordinated approach to adolescent health across the organization is the HQ Interdepartmental Technical Working Group on Adolescent Health and Well-being. In 2021, the group produced the first report on its work on adolescent health and well-being, celebrating efforts across many areas of work and all levels of the organization. This is the second in the series of biennial reports that comes on the wake of the Global Forum for Adolescents 2023 and is powered by its 1.8 Billion Young People for Change campaign. The report describes WHO’s efforts to elevate adolescent health and well-being through collaboration and by coordinating new initiatives, addressing emerging needs and establishing ambitious objectives with its development partners and adolescents. Target audience: this WHO serial publication is designed to be used by policy-makers, media and donors.

Including chapters on Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America, this textbook fills a gap in the knowledge about the concerns and experiences of adolescents in political contexts beyond the global North. Includes features such as case studies, vignettes and reflective accounts authored by adolescents themselves, discussion questions, reading lists and eResources. This book centres on research generated using innovative and participatory methodologies, largely in the context of cross-country multi-method research, allowing insights through relationships developed by researchers with young people over extended time periods. This book explores how the under-researched ‘everyday politics’ of exercising voice and agency is experienced through interfaces between the local and global, embedded within relationships, and emotionally constituted

Governments and school communities recognize increasingly that health, well-being and educational outcomes are closely intertwined and that schools are important resources for influencing the health and well-being of students, families and the wider community. The school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made these links particularly clear. A health-promoting school is “a school that constantly strengthens its capacity as a safe and healthy setting for living, learning and working”. The concept of health-promoting schools (HPS) is a whole-school approach to promoting health and educational attainment in school communities by capitalizing on the organizational potential of schools to foster the physical, social–emotional and psychological conditions for health as well as for positive education outcomes. The HPS approach and related whole-school approaches to health have been associated with considerable improvements in many domains of student health, well-being, nutrition and functioning.