Latest News in the YAA Health Division

Training 5th & 6th May
Sexual Health and Healthy Communication
a survival guide for youth workers working with
homeless or at risk young people.
Kings Cross, Sydney

A two day course running on the 5th and 6th of May
for all youth workers working with homeless or at
risk young people. Click Here for more Details


December 16 2009
The NSW Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health (NSW CAAH) and the Primar Health and Community Partnerships Branch of the NSW Department of Health are seeking comment and feedback on the draft NSW Youth Health Policy 2010-2015: healthy bodies, healthy minds, vibrant futures

Submissions close 18th January. The YAA will be respnding to the draft docuemnt, if you would like to discuss further and wish to contribute to the YAA submission please contact brandon@yaa.com.au


December  9 2009

The NSW CAAH and NSW Health have released a literature report and a summary of the consultation process for the new NSW Youth Health Policy (2010-2015). Both of these documents are a fantastic resource and a highly interesting read.



About the YAA Health Division

The YAA Health Division aims to increase health services to homeless and at risk young people across New South Wales. This service is provided through capacity building training to youth workers and other interested people who work with young people, advocating for the needs and rights of homeless young people on the health and youth health agendas and developing and distributing resources to aid people in approaching health with homeless and at risk young people.

It is the belief of the YAA Health Division that homeless young people deserve the same healthcare rights as mainstream young people. These rights are set out in the Convention of the Rights of The Child. We also believe that for a variety of reasons homeless young people face a unique set of circumstances that can make it difficult for them to receive the same level of healthcare as mainstream young people. Adding to this is the fact that indigenous, same sex attracted and culturally and linguistically diverse young people are overrated in the homeless population. These young people can face additional changes and must be supported when seeking equitable healthcare.

The NSW Youth Action Plan 2006-2016 guided the Health Division in identifying four focus areas for our programs.

The YAAHD will continue to provide the services of the Health Outreach Team, a sexual health and blood borne virus education and resource distribution project which has provided services to the NSW Youth sector for more than a decade.
 
Young people are grossly overrepresented in statistics for sexually transmitted infections and anecdotal evidence from workers continues to inform us that adolescent pregnancy is an issue in youth services.

Within the sexual and reproductive health program issues such as sexual diversity, consent and negotiating condom use are also covered.

The YAAHD aims to support the Millennium Development Goal of reducing the current HIV rate.
 

Young people have the highest rates of mental health concerns than any other age bracket, and adolescent mental health care is not being provided at adequate levels according to the 2009 Garling Report on health services in NSW.

Often youth workers are seeing the effects of mental health issues being acted out by clients, and the YAAHD aims to increase workers capacity to effectively deal with these issues and provide a strong referral network.
 

Young people who are sleeping rough or couch surfing often lack access to nutritional food sources. Those young people in supported accommodation services often have difficult to break food habits, and lack of motivation can lead to a lack of desire to keep the body healthy. 

The YAAHD aims to work with professionals such as dieticians and personal trainers to develop resources and information for workers and young people to support healthy decision making about keeping fit and well.
 

Substance use and abuse in Australia often seems culturally ingrained, and this cultural link can be even stronger with young people who are disadvantaged or homeless.

Harmful use of substances whether legal like tobacco or cigarettes, or illicit can be very damaging to the short and long term health of young people. The YAAHD hopes to use innovate methods to increase worker capacity to tackle the issues of AOD with their clients.

The Health Division also believes all our work should be backed up by current research and relevant policies.

For more information on the work of the YAA Health Division please contact Brandon on (02) 9698 5833 x32 or email brandon@yaa.com.au