TRAINING
FOR ADOLESCENT HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT ¨C EXPERIENCES FROM THE OCEANIC REGION
Bennett
DL¹, Fritsch K², Barcelo T³, Tahir S², Kang M¹, Oldmeadow W¹
¹
The University of Sydney, The Children¡¯s Hospital at Westmead, Australia
²
WHO, Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO), Manila, Philippines
³
Open University, University of the Philippines
Objectives:
1)
To outline core adolescent health (ADH)
competencies identified in a WHO regional curricular review process,
including an overview of reported courses, programs and policies in the
Western Pacific Region.
2)
To discuss progress at WHO-WPRO in developing ADH Curricular Integration Process
Guidelines for the integration of adolescent health and development
concepts, issues, relevant teaching/learning strategies and evaluation
tools into pre-service health worker training curricula.
Methods: An open ended questionnaire was used to ascertain priority ADH
concerns in countries of the region, the existence of specific ADH courses
& modules for health professionals and other relevant activity. A
Curricular Review Checklist (2001) was developed based on ADH content and
competencies, teaching methods and student evaluation. Responses from
participating institutions, including ADH components within the University
of Sydney Medical Program (USydMP), were analysed.
Results: Responses to the open-ended questionnaire
were received from 14 countries. ADH curricula were reported in at least 7
countries, mostly in nursing and midwifery. Although ADH services and
programs exist throughout the region, there is a paucity of national health
goals for young people. ADH
Curricular Integration Process Guidelines are being developed. Use of
the Checklist has lead to changes in the ADH components of USydMP.
Conclusions: Adolescent health and development issues
are being recognised in academic institutions throughout the region. The
WHO-WPRO curricular review process has provided impetus and direction for
the development of training guidelines and for the strengthening of ADH
service delivery. The integration of adolescent health and development into
pre-service health worker training curricula is a priority activity for
WHO-WPRO.