adolescent health
March 9, 2017
Certificate capstone brings together experts in adolescent health to understand early gender socialization
Categories: Research, students
Tags: adolescent health, Certificate Program
In fulfillment of her Global WACh Certificate Capstone, Marina Plesons worked with a team of adolescent, sexual, and reproductive health professionals from the WHO, USAID, Gates Foundation, and the David & Lucille Packard Foundation to write a commentary for the Journal of Adolescent Health. The paper considers the implications for action and research of the Global Early Adolescent Study’s formative qualitative research on gender socialization.
The Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) aims to understand the factors in early adolescence that predispose young people to subsequent sexual health risks, and conversely promote sexual and reproductive health and well-being. In her capstone presentation last week, Marina commented on the fact that ages 10-14 are among the most critical for human development, but are a comparatively poorly understood life stage. This work thus serves to investigate the social processes that shape young people’s health and development, especially as this relates to gender norms informing adolescent sexuality.
Gender inequities are a key underlying determinant of the sex-specific differentials in morbidity and mortality of adults, and adolescents. Gender inequities manifest in different ways, such as discriminatory laws, policies, and socio-cultural practices or unequal power, access, and control over resources. At the root of inequities are gender norms and attitudes, which prescribe different status, power, access, and behaviors (including in relationships) according to culturally appropriate expectations for males and females. If we understand how gender norms for young adolescents are enforced, reinforced, challenged, and accepted, then we can be better address these in programs and interventions to improve adolescent and adult health.
Marina’s contributions to the paper included key themes in which gender norms and attitudes manifest in the lives of young adolescents, their peers, and their families in a number of countries. The team then extrapolated seven key programmatic and policy recommendations for ways that the global community can promote gender equitable norms and attitudes in early adolescence.
We can expect the paper to be included as part of a Journal of Adolescent Health special supplement this year, featuring the results from Marina’s work. We look forward to sharing when it is released!
Through
out her capstone and internship with the WHO, Marina also worked closely with her faculty advisor, Dr. Donna Denno.
Marina Plesons is an MPH candidate in the department of Global Health, and President and Co-founder of Health Advocacy Innovations, Inc.
March 3, 2017
Global WACh Seed Grant recipient publishes at PLOS One
Tags: adolescent health, Seed grants, STIs
As part of our commitment to meaningful research collaborations, Global WACh offers Integrated Health Seed Grants: one-year of seed funding for pioneering research to improve the health of women, adolescents, and children. The proposals we award recognize a global focus on community advocacy and innovative exploration.
Dr. Linnet Masese is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington Department of Medicine
In 2011 we awarded the seed grant to Dr. Linnet Masese, who at the time was a doctoral student at the UW Department of Epidemiology, and Clinic Section Head at the UW/University of Nairobi Research Site in Mombasa. Her original proposal was to explore the feasibility of Chlamydia trachomatis screening among adolescents and young women in Kenya. However, with nucleic acid amplification testing locally available at the UW Research Laboratory in Mombasa, she expanded the study to include screening for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Trichomonas vaginalis. We are thrilled to report that the first of three papers from this study titled “Barriers and Facilitators of Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections in Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Mombasa, Kenya” was recently published in PLOS One.
Dr. Masese’s work centers around one of the earliest reproductive health challenges faced by young women as they become sexually active: the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Young women bear the greatest burden of STIs as they face significant barriers to STI screening. Through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, Dr. Masese and her study team identified the barriers to STI screening among adolescent girls and young women in Mombasa, Kenya (PLoS One paper). Based on findings from this qualitative study, they developed a screening intervention for adolescent girls and young women in Mombasa (manuscript submitted to STD).
As a center dedicated to fostering new discovery and career development, we couldn’t be happier to support this research achievement in Mombasa and we look forward to following the improvements in sexual health education and STI screening as a result of your work.
September 20, 2016
SPEED study aims to better meet adolescent HIV care needs
Categories: Research
Tags: adolescent health, HIV, SPEED
Despite enormous expansion of HIV testing and treatment services in resource-limited settings, adolescents continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. Lack of access to acceptable HIV testing, counseling, and treatment has been cited as a barrier to HIV care among adolescents. Additionally, health workers tasked with providing adolescent HIV services report feeling inadequately prepared to cope with the needs of this age group.
The SPEED study improves quality and accessibility of HIV care to meet the unique needs of adolescents. SPEED (Simulated Patient Encounters to promote Early Detection) uses patient actors to portray adolescent HIV patients as part of a clinical training intervention. This gives nurses and doctors in Kenya an opportunity to practice their skills diagnosing, caring for, and engaging adolescents living with HIV. The simulated encounters utilize a standardized patient script and provide opportunities for the trained actor and a faculty observer to deliver immediate feedback and support to the clinician.
Simulated patient interactions show great promise as a mechanism for health workers in low-resource settings to improve critical decision-making, patient interaction, and communication skills in working with adolescents. SPEED’s ultimate aim is for this increased provider confidence to in turn increase uptake and retention in adolescent HIV care.
a SPEED patient actor practices her case with a study nurse
Dr. Kate Wilson with the patient actor team
This week, SPEED has been busy training a new group of patient actors in Nairobi, Kenya. Actor training is part of the study’s first year of progress. Led by Global WACh and UW School of Nursing researcher Dr. Pamela Kohler and managed by Dr. Kate Wilson, SPEED’s interventions and analyses will be conducted over the next four years.
May 31, 2016
The Next Big thing: Adolescent Health
Categories: students, Talks and Events
Tags: adolescent health
You’re invited to our end of year celebration showcasing the achievements of Global WACh students, faculty, grantees, and scholars around the world.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Bruder Stapleton, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics
Other Speakers include Drs. Minnie Kibore, Meghan Moreno, Pamela Kohler and Anthony Roche.
Event Details:
Thursday, June 2nd 2016
Foege Auditorium, University of Washington
3720 15th Avenue NE
Seattle, WA 98105
September 8, 2015
New Lecture Series: Breakfast with WACh with Dr. Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli
Categories: Talks and Events
Tags: adolescent health, Breakfast with WACh
Please join Global WACh as we welcome Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli MBBS, MSc of the World Health Organization as part of our new Breakfast with WACh lecture series.
Dr. Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli is an expert in adolescent sexual and reproductive health. He has worked for the World Health Organization in Geneva since 1993. His experience in generating knowledge and taking knowledge to action is global in scope and spans over 25 years. A key area of his work is research on effective ways of providing sexuality education in different social, cultural and economic contexts, and then using these research findings to strengthen sexuality education programs in low and middle income countries.
October 8th 9-10 AM University of Washington, South Campus Center Room 354
Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Why is there so much discomfort about it? What are the implications for public health and health care professionals?
For more information please see this flyer.
For the full filmed presentation, please visit this link.
March 23, 2015
Dr. Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli of WHO Presents at Global WACh
Categories: Research, Talks and Events
Tags: adolescent health
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This week we were pleased to have Dr. Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli here at Global WACh for an amazing presentation on adolescent and sexual reproductive health.
Since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994 there have been tremendous changes made throughout the world in which adolescents live. Lowered infant mortality, a decrease in poverty, and better access to clean drinking water are just a few examples of things that have improved. Progress where it comes to adolescent sexual health however hasn’t been quite as successful, and often inadequate commitment, discomfort, or limited funding and resources stand in the way of such changes.
“When you have huge fires burning like childhood or maternal mortality, or HIV, adolescent sexual and reproductive health is talked about as one of the many priorities but is not given the attention it needs.”
Dr. Chandra-Mouli works in the World Health Organization’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research and seeks to create evidence based policy changes and programs. You can view his entire presentation below.
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December 12, 2014
Global WACh’s Launch of Special Supplement of the Journal of Adolescent Health
Categories: Research, Talks and Events
Tags: adolescent health, ICPD
There are 1.8 billion adolescents in the world today. That’s a tremendous number of youth that are at a crucial point of transition in their lives. 1.4 million adolescents die each year from causes such as early pregnancy, sexual violence, unsafe abortions, and HIV and other STIs. Yet adolescence is often overlooked in policy making, particularly in low income, high risk settings, and the global health of adolescents is not improving at the rate it should.
Last night Global WACh was proud to sponsor the launch of a Special Supplement of the Journal of Adolescent Health. This marks the 20th anniversary of the the landmark Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
We had some truly amazing speakers on hand to have a conversation on ways of improving the health and well-being of adolescents globally. The speakers and a tremendous student panel shared their experiences and discussed how investing in adolescent friendly health services, comprehensive sex education, supportive environments, violence prevention, and youth participation can help adolescents transition into happy and healthy adults.
If you missed our livestream of the event, you can go to the following link and watch the recorded version. Thanks to all our speakers, students, and attendees that helped make this launch a great success!
November 21, 2014
Two Great Back to Back Adolescent Lectures
Categories: Talks and Events
Tags: adolescent health
Please join Global WACh for two fantastic events focusing on the health of adolescents and women.
Journal of Adolescent Health Special Issue Launch
With Drs. Donna Denno, Annie Hoopes, Grace John-Stewart, and Judy Wasserheit.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Event | 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Reception
W.H. Foege Building | Room N130
3720 15th Ave NE Seattle, WA 98105
Join authors Drs. Donna Denno and Annie Hoopes, along with Global WACh Director Dr. Grace John-Stewart and UW’s Department of Global Health Chair Dr. Judy Wasserheit, for a discussion about the global status of adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights. The event will include a series of presentations and a panel of global health professionals with first-hand experience discussing the realities in settings around the world, followed by a short reception.
Migration/Mobility and Early Sex Exchange as Social Determinants of Marginalized Women and Adolescents’ Health
With Dr. Shira Goldenberg
Tuesday, December 16th
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Harborview Ninth and Jefferson Building | 13th floor | Room 1360
325 Ninth Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
This lecture will illustrate the critical roles of early sex exchange and migration/mobility patterns in shaping health inequalities related to HIV/STIs, substance use, and access to care for marginalized women and adolescents. Drawing on evidence from epidemiological and qualitative studies conducted with women and adolescents involved in the sex industry in Mexico, Guatemala, and Canada, this lecture will highlight the need for policy changes and multi-level interventions to promote the health of migrant/mobile women and adolescents who exchange sex.
