July 2010

A forum on: Young People who are Parents or are about to become Parents

A diverse audience of more than 60 people enjoyed a well-balanced of programme of research and practice. Dr Rachel Copland studied the data around secondary school students and pregnancy from the Youth'07 health and wellbeing survey of secondary school students. Rachel's study provides us with some important data that has not been available before, and her presentation is available if you are interested. She is hopeful that a paper will be published later in the year. Heather Keats, a Teen Parent Community Researcher from the Auckland Women's Centre, described a rather different research project that she has been involved in to improve the support offered to teenagers who become pregnant. Heather's research was both novel and inspiring as it sought to identify what young parents themselves believed was important in order to support their own wellbeing and that of their children. The afternoon ended with a DVD of a programme currently being piloted by HealthWEST to support teenagers who become fathers. Teen Dads Plus was presented by Junior Tavai and Daniel John and will undoubtedly have provided much for us all to consider if we are to move beyond the stereotypical expectations of young fathers who struggle to cope with the pressures of parenthood, or who absent themselves completely, and really look at what can be done to support young men become fabulous fathers.

June 2010

A forum on:  Young People and Alcohol

The forum, which was chaired by Simon Denny, brought together speakers from difference organisations who presented their perspectives on various issues relating to alcohol and its impact on young people. Jennifer Mungherera set the scene by presenting information on young people and alcohol based on the the Youth'07 Survey of New Zealand secondary school students. Ben Williams, the legal aid coordinator from YouthLaw put forward the case Youth Law submitted to the Law Commission on Alcohol for not raising the drinking age. Rebecca Williams from Alcohol Watch explained her role and how Alcohol Watch works at a number of levels to prevent harm from alcohol. Graham Woodfield from GALA (Group Against Liquor Advertising) explained why we have all been 'hoodwinked' by the alcohol industry into allowing alcohol, inspite of the harm it creates, to become an unquestionable part of our lives. The community perspective on alcohol and young people was presented by Sue Bagshaw from the Youth Health and Development Trust in Christchurch. Sue made a number of practical suggestions about what we can all do to mininise the harm of alcohol on young people. 


Simon Denny chaired the panel discussion on young people and alcohol

April 2010
 
SPY Fono

The launch of the Youth'07 report on the health and wellbeing of Pacific Young People provided the opportunity for a fono organised by SPY (Shades of Pacific Youth). The fono included presentations by Dr Simon Denny and Yvonne Kainuku-Walsh on the results for Pacific Young People, and Hilda Fa'asalele (ADHB) and Silao Vaisola (CMDHB) spoke on programmes in their regions that support Pacific young people. The report on Pacific Young People can be accessed through this website.

March 2010

 A forum on: Suicide Prevention

At this forum Sarah Fortune, a clinical psyschologist from the Adolescent Health Research Group, presented some of the findings from the Youth2000 national surveys in 2001 and 2007 on the suicide behaviours of young people. In addition Dr Paul Quinett a Clinical Psychologist & CEO of the QPR Institute in Washington State presented 'Oh, let's not just talk about it: Challenges and Opportunities in Preventing Patient Suicide'.

The October 2009 Forum

The first forum was  held on the afternoon of Tuesday 20th October 2009 and attracted 60-70 people. The forum was a collaboration between Rainbow Youth, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation and the University of Auckland and focussed on the needs of same-sex and both-sex attracted youth and queer young people. In particular the forum celebrated the release of the Youth'07 report Results for 'Young People Attracted to the Same Sex or Both Sexes'. At the forum Mathijs Lucassen from the University of Auckland provided an overview of the health and wellbeing of young people attracted to the same sex or both sexes. Thomas Hamilton, from Rainbow Youth updated participants on Queer youth health and wellbeing: Where we're at and what we plan to do. And Dr Kathleen Quinlivan presented some findings from  a research project she has been involved in: Ways Forward: What can we learn from queer youth?


Youth Health Events - Tamaki Campus, July 3rd, 5th & 6th, 2009

The Adolescent Health Research Group (AHRG) at The University Auckland welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with the Society of Youth Health Professionals Aotearoa New Zealand (SYHPANZ) and colleagues from the Connectedness Project at Victoria University Wellington, to host a three day youth health event at the Tamaki Campus of the University of Auckland in early July 2009.

Friday 3rd July - Youth Health Workforce Development Symposium

The day was mainly devoted to consideration and discussion of the draft Youth Health Framework for Workforce Development. Maria Kekus and Pauline Proud presented the framework which is available for viewing on the Workforce Development - Youth Health website along with more information from the Symposium and the development of  the Workforce Development Framework.

Professor David Bennett, from the New South Wales Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health provided an interesting historical perspective on the workforce development in adolescent health.

This Workforce Symposium was supported with funding from the Vodafone Foundation

                             

Rawiri Wharemate, Kaumatua with Dr Terryann Clark                                                        


Monday 5th July - Improving Health and Wellbeing for Young People: What does the research tell us?

The focus of the day was to update participants on recent research around youth health and wellbeing in New Zealand. The results from the Youth'07 National Survey of the Health and Wellbeing of Secondary School Students were presented by the Principal Investigator for the study, Dr Simon Denny.  Results for Maori students were presented by Dr Sue Crengle and for Maori students and their whanau or families  by Dr Terryann Clark. The Youth'07 results for Asian students were presented by Dr Sharon Wong

The results from the Victoria University Youth Connectedness Project were presented by Dr Jan Pryor and Dr Carla Crespo.  Nao Guy from Youthline Auckland presented some useful perspectives on engaging young people in youth-lead research and projects, including translating the results from the Youth'07 survey into youth-friendly resources. This latter project was a collaboration between Youthline, and The University of Auckland, funded with support from the Vodafone Foundation.


                
                                    Food and networking are priorities at such events!


Tuesday 6th July - Improving Health and Wellbeing for Young People: Growing Research Capability

A number of presenters outlined the challenges and rewards of researching with young people. Different perspectives were provided by Dr Peter Watson from the University of Auckland, and Dr Tim McCreanor and Hector Kaiwai from the Whariki /SHORE, Massey University