TRAINING OF HEALTH WORKERS ON COUNSELLING FOR ADOLESCENT HEALTH
AND DEVELOPMENT- COUNTRY EXPERIENCES FROM AFRICA
Grange A
College of Medicine, Lagos, Nigeria
Objective:
The objective of this study is to gather and present information
on country experiences on counseling for adolescent health and development
in Africa.
Methods:
Experiences were gathered by the author during direct training
of adolescents in
Nigeria as well as through dialogue with African colleagues and review of
reports from other parts of Africa.
Results:
The results revealed an enormous need of adolescents for
appropriate counseling services. What adolescents want from health care
providers are accurate information, confidentiality, acceptance and respect
for their opinions. However in training health workers, the most frequent
barrier, encountered included difficulty in getting the trainees to clarify
their own values without being judgemental so as to accommodate the
experimental nature of young persons. Training to counsel on HIV/AIDS,
victims of sexual violence and harmful traditional practices pose the
greatest challenges.
Conclusion:
It is concluded that training on
counseling must be of two types- the typical short-term counseling course
followed by continued training and supervision of health workers whilst on
the job.