Youth Health Services Literature Review. A rapid review of: School based health services Community based youth specific health services & General Practice health care for young people

Abstract

This literature review was commissioned by Waitemata District Health Board (WDHB) to inform service planning and the implementation of the WDHB strategic plan for youth health – ‘E Tu Tai Tamariki – Young People Stand Tall: Strategic Directions for Youth Health 2009-2014’. The information from this report will be considered alongside other information including youth input, provider feedback and current opportunities, in order to improve the health and wellbeing of young people aged 12- 24 years in the Waitemata district. This is a rapid review of published literature relating to the health services for young people aged 12-24, in three focus areas: School based health services Youth health care in General Practice settings Community based youth specific health services Literature was identified using PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, CINAHL, and Cochrane library databases, hand searches of key youth health websites and brief Google searches for ‘grey’ literature (such as reports). Systematic or high quality reviews published in peer reviewed publications within the last ten years were used where available. In using this report it is important to note its limitations. These include: 1) this is a brief review undertaken in short time frame 2) approaches that have not been evaluated or not been published will not be included 3) approaches that do not come under one of the identified focus areas will not be included 4) much of this research comes from overseas. Thus in decision making for services this information should be considered alongside other, local information.