International Handbook on Adolescent Health and Development: The Public Health Response

by Andrew L. Cherry (Editor), Valentina Baltag (Editor), Mary E. Dillon (Editor)

Overview

This comprehensive reference uses an ecological perspective to sort out the complex mix of biological, psychological, social, and other factors influencing adolescent health as well as shaping professional responses to the needs of adolescents. Describing critical concerns at the global level and innovative strategies from selected countries, the book urges readers to develop and support practices and policies to enhance optimal youth development. Expert coverage centers on key areas: the global state of adolescent health and development, adolescent health issues and public health answers, making health systems more responsive to youth, and improving school health services. And bedrock themes such as social determinants of health, young people’s right to health care, and health and gender disparities are discussed throughout these chapters.

Included among the topics:

• The epidemiology of adolescent health

• Adolescent sexual health and sexuality education

• Restorative justice and the mental wellbeing of adolescents

• Critical issues in adolescent nutrition: needs and recommendations

• Towards an adolescent competent workforce

• Pairing children with health services: the changing role of school health services in the 21st century

The International Handbook on Adolescent Health and Development is essential to medical schools, public schools, and college libraries; teaching faculty; graduate and post-graduate students in public health, medicine, social work, other behavioral sciences and health disciplines (e.g., nursing, allied heath); as well as practitioners interested in better orienting their services to the health needs of adolescents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319821702
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	06/28/2018
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2017
Pages:	537
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mary E. Dillon, EdD, MSW, has been working in the social services field since the late 1980s, during which time she began working with homeless women and children. Her interest in women's issues led to her working as the executive director of a non-profit after-school program for high-at-risk adolescent girls and their families located in inner-city Miami, Florida. Her research and interest in drug and alcohol abuse and teen pregnancy led to two book chapters in 2001 and 2002 entitled "Adolescent and Teen Pregnancy: A Global View" and "Abuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs: A Global View." From 2003 to 2008, Dr. Dillon was an associate evaluator on the OU Oklahoma Co-occurring State Incentive Grant, a SAMSHA-funded program. Her primary focus of research is on women who present with the co-occurring disorders of mental health and substance abuse. While in Oklahoma, she was an adjunct professor in the University of Oklahoma School of Social Work in Tulsa. Dr. Dillon co-­authored a book entitled Social Work Practice: Using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published in 2010. In 2014, she was co-editor of a book entitled International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy: Medical, Psychosocial, and Public Health Responses. Since 2011, she has held the position of lecturer at University of Central Florida, School of Social Work in Orlando.


Andrew L. Cherry, DSW, has been working in the helping professions since 1969. He previously worked as a psychiatric social worker at Bryce Hospital (a mental hospital) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Between 2003 and 2014, he has held the position of the Oklahoma Medicaid Endowed Professor of Mental Health at the University of Oklahoma School Of Social Work in Tulsa. Professor Cherry conducts research and evaluations in the areas of co-occurring disorders, addiction, social services to children and families, and the influence of social bonds on human behavior. He has authored 18 books and chapters, numerous professional journal articles, and conference presentations. His most recent book, co-authored with Mary Dillon and published in 2014, is titled, International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy: Medical, Psychosocial, and Public Health Responses.


Valentina Baltag, MD, MSc, PhD, is responsible for Adolescent Health Policies, Planning and Programmes in the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health at the Headquarters of the World Health Organization. She is a strong advocate of adolescents' rights to quality health care services and protective social policies. Dr. Baltag's work focuses on supporting Member States to develop and implement comprehensive policies that address adolescent health from a life-course perspective and include a focus on main areas of concern such as sexual and reproductive health, mental health, nutrition, violence, etc. Dr. Baltag is a medical doctor and holds a PhD from the Medical University in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova and an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She authored publications on primary care organization, quality of care, school health services, and preconception care.

Table of Contents

Introduction.- Establishing Global Standards for the Provision of Adolescent Health Care and Services.- Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health.- Mental Health.- Violence and Injuries.- Nutrition and Physical Activity.- Special Considerations for Adolescents with Chronic Conditions.- Adolescent Evolving Capacity and Autonomous Decision Making.- Adolescent Responsive Health Systems.- Adolescent Health Competencies Needed by Health Care Workers.- Financial Responsibility and Universal Access to Care.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Christiane Ellen Stahl, MD (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description: This is an ambitious compendium of essays by a range of 44 professionals from around the world on the current status of adolescent health, health promoting services, and related, promising theoretical frameworks, programs, and policies.
Purpose: The intent is to provide translatable information that supports the World Health Organization's vision for an adolescent-inclusive realization of the "right to physical and mental health and well-being, social and economic opportunities, and participation in shaping prosperous and sustainable societies." These are worthy but exceedingly broad objectives, and pose a challenge which is laudably, but only partially, met by the book.
Audience: Both the authors and the intended audience are professionals from a variety of specialties (public health, medicine, social work, nursing) and locales (health professionals training schools, colleges, and healthcare settings around the world). Readers are likely to find a few, but not most, chapters relevant to their interests. For readers devoted to adolescent medical education, chapters of particular use include the one describing Portugal's evolving training programs for adolescent-friendly providers and the ones on juvenile justice, especially if training includes a posting in a juvenile detention clinic setting. The editors are two U.S. academic social workers, both with extensive practice and community-based program development experience, and a European MD, PhD (public health) who is an adolescent expert with the World Health Organization in Geneva. They have assembled a group of authors, most of whom are well-known and published authorities in the field.
Features: The book is divided into four parts, a logical but often duplicative approach. Part one provides "a snapshot of adolescent health and development globally and from selected countries." Part two , on "Adolescent Health Conditions and the Public Health Response," reviews in greater depth the leading causes of ill health and death in adolescence and provides examples of evidence-based interventions and successful public health policies in the areas of mental health, sexual health, nutrition, and chronic illness. Part three, "Adolescent Responsive Health and Social Systems," looks at key functions of health systems from the perspective of adolescents' specific needs and expectations. Part four focuses on school health services and their potential for addressing the majority of adolescents' health needs. Strengths of the book include an excellent summary of global adolescent health statistics, two intriguing chapters on juvenile and restorative justice, and hard to find, country-specific information on a variety of adolescent health-related issues from Japan, Cuba, Chile, India, Portugal, Russia, Albania, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. A well-communicated core concern of several chapters is the development of more "adolescent-friendly" healthcare services, specifically the "how-to's" of adolescent-specific healthcare provider training, including assessment of capacity to consent, financial protection for adolescent healthcare, and the impact and promise of digital technologies. Weaker elements include a postmodernist critique of adolescence as a purely social construct, the principal role of which is to scapegoat adolescents. This critique seems quite at odds with the entirety of the book. Some chapters focus primarily on the U.S. to the detriment of a more global perspective. For example, there is a timely chapter on legalizing marijuana in the U.S. that entirely ignores the impact of the drug trade on adolescents in producer countries. Also missing is information about African (other than HIV) or Chinese adolescents, systems, or policies, or the impact of armed conflict, immigration, or climate change. Overall, this book offers a wide-ranging view of adolescent health, related policies, and healthcare services. Unfortunately, the organization of the book and the unevenness of the chapters' quality make it a challenge to read in its entirety. The index seems haphazard and chapter-specific, which limits the book's usefulness as a reference.
Assessment: This is a timely book of ambitious scope and uneven quality that achieves much in bringing together most of the elements that need to be addressed in order to improve adolescent health and development. I am unaware of another book with this breadth of professional and multinational perspectives.

Doody's Review Service