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May 2024
 Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent and Young Adult Health (MNPAH) is an action plan to guide adolescent and young adult health in Minnesota. This collaboratively developed plan was created to motivate, engage, and inspire action. It recognizes the important contributions and amazing ideas that exist across our great state. Each month this newsletter will highlight a priority from the plan and showcase an adolescent health partner in Minnesota.
In this edition
Improve the responsiveness of health care for young people.
Adolescence is often seen as a healthy time in life. However, all teens should be seen by a health care provider every year for a well visit. Many teens also have other medical needs. In 2022, only 35% of Medicaid-eligible youth ages 15 to 18 received any health screening. Youth-centered care is needed to truly meet the health care needs of young people. Youth-centered care (also known as youth-friendly care) is a framework that blends high health care standards with characteristics that young people demand. Youth-centered care helps youth build the skills and knowledge they need to be their own advocates as they transition to adult healthcare systems.
The goal of this priority is to strengthen the health care system to better meet the mental and physical health needs of young people. The action steps focus on access to services, increasing the capacity of health care providers to effectively address adolescent health needs, and providing services confidentially while balancing the need to reach out to parents and caregivers to young people. The goal of this priority is to strengthen the health care system to better meet the mental and physical health needs of young people. The action steps focus on access to services, increasing the capacity of health care providers to effectively address adolescent health needs, and providing services confidentially while balancing the need to reach out to parents and caregivers to young people.
Action Steps
- Expand and strengthen youth-focused clinics including increasing the number of school-based health clinics.
- Promote teen-centered health care (youth-friendly care).
- Increase focus on mental wellness.
- Increase access to school and community-based health services and supports.
- Ensure confidentiality in health care for adolescents and young adults.
- Enroll adolescents and young adults in health insurance.
The MNPAH access to high-quality, youth-friendly health care and information webpage has Minnesota-specific resources with youth leadership program examples and guides to get started.
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Aquí Para Tí (APT)/Here for You is a comprehensive positive youth development clinic providing medical care, behavioral health assessments, coaching, health education, and family referrals. For more than 20 years, APT’s model has been driven by responding to the Latine communities’ needs. APT provides trauma-informed care to adolescents and their families through a holistic approach (family-youth centered) and uses parallel care (coaching youth and parents in parallel), all while providing strict confidentiality. This parallel care truly supports inter-generational connections. It brings adolescent care to the next level as the developmental transition is for the whole family.
APT is one of Hennepin Healthcare's essential clinics that have reduced health disparities through family-centered care among Latine families, grounding the care in positive identity and agency. The team creates an environment of welcoming empathy that is trauma-informed and strength-based and celebrates each youth, their families, their stories, and diversity overall.
APT is funded by the Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative of the Minnesota Department of Health.
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Welcome MDH’s new adolescent health staff
Mariah Geiger-Williams, MPH, has joined the adolescent and school health unit as the new state adolescent health coordinator. Mariah will coordinate the Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent and Young Adult Health and support its action plan. Mariah’s adolescent health experience spans many years and multiple roles, including as the early adolescent health consultant at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. She is most proud of projects where she was able to co-design programs with young people and community. In addition to her passion for this work, Mariah enjoys reading, learning to sew, long walks, trivia with friends, and spending time with her extended family, almost all of whom live in Minnesota.
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May is National Adolescent Health Month
National Adolescent Health Month is an annual observance that emphasizes the importance of building on young people’s strengths and potential, encouraging and supporting meaningful youth engagement in adolescent health activities, and highlighting key topics in adolescent health.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) encourages youth serving organizations, volunteers, health care professionals, and communities to utilize the weekly themes throughout May. The U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services also has many useful resources to help support positive adolescent health.
Join MDH in celebrating National Adolescent Health Month. #NationalAdolescentHealthMonth and #HealthyYouthNAHM
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New resource: TALK: Toolkit for Adolescent Care
TALK: Toolkit for Adolescent Care supports primary care clinicians in providing adolescent patients with high-quality preventive care that addresses psychosocial and sexual health topics. Implemented and tested in primary care clinics in greater Minnesota, and building on the Healthy Youth Development - Prevention Research Center’s earlier Confidential Adolescent Sexual Health Services study revealing that many parents and teens want to talk with their primary care clinicians about these topics but lack the opportunity. TALK features three components:
- Training for clinicians in communication strategies for addressing sensitive topics.
- Resources for clinicians, in the form of one-page TALK Tools.
- Standardizing adolescent-friendly clinic practices.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
MDH has created a messaging toolkit that includes ideas and resources to raise awareness around mental health and suicide prevention. It includes key messages organized around five weekly themes that can be used for emails, newsletter content, social media posts, images, as well as additional resources to supplement existing activities. Help promote well-being activities and tag your positive initiatives using #YouMatterMN.
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Black youth mental health initiative
A Black youth mental health initiative is underway to improve the mental well-being of Black youth and families in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center through a mental health in all policies approach. This three-year policy demonstration project is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health grant, through coordination by MDH.
The grant for the initiative was prompted by a rise in Black youth suicide rates. Research shows that the suicide death rate among Black youth is increasing faster than any other racial/ethnic group.
MDH partnered with the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance for Youth to establish a community and Black youth-led process with a shared set of goals and a deliberate approach. After year one, the team has worked to build trust between communities while leveraging state and local partnerships, facilitate wider cross-system communication, and advance racial equity.
To learn more about this project, visit the MDH webpage reimagine Black youth mental health.
MDH expands program to 14 counties to support children of incarcerated parents
Thanks to the Minnesota Legislature, MDH and the University of Minnesota have expanded a pilot program to 14 counties across Minnesota to help children impacted by the criminal legal system. The Minnesota model jail practices learning community project brings together local jails and partners quarterly to learn best practices, share resources, and reflect on how parental incarceration impacts the children in their counties. With the support of the Minnesota Sherriff’s Association, work continues with county jails in Carlton, Olmsted, Ramsey, Renville, Stearns, and Sherburne, and is now launching in Brown, McLeod, Nicollet, Todd, Hennepin, St. Louis, Crow Wing, and Scott County facilities.
Toolkits, presentations, courses, and details about individual jail efforts from the first three years of the project are available at the supporting children of incarcerated parents MDH webpage.
Minnesota Statewide Health Assessment now available
The Minnesota Statewide Health Assessment tells the story of health in Minnesota, providing snapshots of how different conditions (education, transportation, income, environment, etc.) impact our health. It is published every five years by the Healthy Minnesota Partnership and MDH and directly informs the statewide health improvement framework. Many of the topics covered in the Statewide Health Assessment impact adolescent health.
New resource: The Teen Brain film
The Teen Brain is a new 10-minute short film that explores what's happening in the teenage brain, illuminating that adolescents are emotionally brilliant super-learners with brains that are undergoing rapid and significant remodeling and development. Based on the latest research on adolescence, and showcasing both teens and doctors and psychologists, The Teen Brain offers tools to stay balanced and navigate the powerful adolescent years. The film was directed by Emmy-nominated director Tiffany Shlain, with the support of executive producer Goldie Hawn and MindUP.
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