The NSW Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health (NSW CAAH)

The Centre works out of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, is funded by NSW Health, and seeks to improve the health and well-being of young people aged 12 - 24 in New South Wales.

CAAH aims to improve young people's health by:

1. Developing information and resources to increase knowledge and understanding of youth health issues
   
   
   • Assisting service providers to develop user-friendly information resources, including fact sheets, training manuals, guidelines and tools.
   • Provide information and referral services by email and phone to service providers, government departments, media, and the general public.
     
     
2. Capacity building to increase organisational skills and confidence in addressing young people's health needs
   
   
   • Coordinating regular Youth Health Forums (since 1996) for multisectoral professionals.
   • Design and provide specific training/capacity building programs.
   • Identify opportunities for incorporating youth issues into current GP training pathways and courses.
   • Support education and training of health professionals about youth health issues and engage them as partners in adolescent health promotion.
     
     
3. Supporting applied research and promoting better practice in youth health careUndertaking applied research on adolescent health care issues, publishing findings in peer-reviewed journals and reports.
   
   
   • Transforming research results into good-practice guidelines and tools for improving access to and service quality of services.
   • Providing technical support to agencies undertaking adolescent health research and health promotion programming.
   • Contribute to initiatives to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal young people, at-risk young people, migrant and refugee young people and young people with chronic conditions, mental illness or disabilities.
     
     
4. Supporting advocacy and policy development to increase leadership and action for adolescent health
   
   
   • Promoting adolescent health issues through the media and involvement in conferences, educational forums, seminars and roundtable events.
   • Providing input into government, non-profit and private sector policy development, ensuring that adolescent health issues and needs are addressed.
   • Maintaining participation in youth services networks and developing strategic relationships with cross-sectoral partners.
   • Provide recommendations to NSW Health, other government departments and service providers on improving young people's access to health services.

For further information

Contact	:	NSW Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health
Address	:	Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145
Phone	:	+61 (2) 9845 3338
Fax	:	+61 (2) 9845 0663
Email	:	caah@chw.edu.au

WWW

:

http://www.caah.chw.edu.au