Young Western Australians have asked for a more holistic concept of health and wellbeing to be considered in the planning of health services, taking into account physical, mental and social needs.
These priorities are reflected in the WA Youth Health Policy 2018-2023, Western Australia’s first policy on youth health, which has been developed by the Department of Health to drive equitable, effective and co-ordinated health services for young people.
The policy drew from the youth health project conducted by the WA Commissioner for Children and Young People, which consulted 1,000 young Western Australians from diverse backgrounds about their experiences with our health services.
Further consultations were then conducted with more than 120 young people throughout WA between September and October 2017 to discover what they needed to achieve positive health and wellbeing outcomes, and how health services could best address their needs.
The resulting Youth Health Policy includes three goals and seven priorities for action relating to the health and wellbeing of young people in WA over the next five years.
The Department of Health’s Child and Youth Health Network has begun creating a youth-friendly version of the policy and engaging Health Service Providers, health services and young people to develop a toolkit which will enable this policy to be implemented across the health system.