Adolescent Health Initiatives
Working to Provide Comprehensive Care to Adolescent Patients & Their Families
Our Adolescent Health Education Initiative focuses on the development of educational tools, resources, and outreach materials for clinicians who see adolescents throughout Illinois. With these physical, emotional and social developmental resources, we hope to aid clinics and practices in increasing their overall adolescent well-visits and help adolescents and their families access quality adolescent-friendly care.
Explore Our Support Resources
Annual Adolescent Health Mini Conference
ICAAP hosts virtual mini-conferences dedicated to improving practices in adolescent care. These conferences include presentations led by experts and can be accessed for professional development at any time.
2025 Adolescent Health Virtual Mini-Conference
Substance Use & Prevention
On May 9th, subject matter experts shared new data and trends in adolescent substance use and prevention strategies. Participants built their capacity for diagnosis, treatment, and referrals while earning CME.
Event Structure:
- Three one-hour sessions
- Full panel discussion with presenters
Explore Past Conferences
2024 Adolescent Health Virtual Mini-Conference
Explore three key presentations in best practices for adolescent care, patient confidentiality, empowering patients, and strategies for supporting the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare.
2023 Mini Conference Materials
Explore three key presentations in best practices for adolescent care, patient confidentiality, empowering patients, and strategies for supporting the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare.
Help Teens Take Charge of Their Health
Improving Adherence to Teen Well-Child Visits & Driving Healthy Habits Early
In Illinois, pediatric patients can start requesting private one-on-one time with their healthcare provider at age 12. This is also a time when adolescents and teens may show a growing interest in their health and are experience tremendous social, emotional, and physical growth. We can help drive better patient outcomes by empowering young people to take charge of their health at every visit and by engaging more meaningfully with parents and guardians about the well child visit schedule.
Resources and Outreach to Share with Teens & Their Guardians
As kids get older, it may be more difficult for their parents or guardians to schedule their routine well-child visits, but we can help. Use our resources below to help educate your patients and their families on the importance of teen visits to improve patient exam adherence.
Parent/Guardian Flyers & Posters
These easy-to-download, patient-facing flyers can be printed directly on your office printer and hung in heavy traffic areas or provided to patients before, during, or after their appointment.
- Tackling Tough Topics Together
Share important information on how teen well-child visits are just as important for parents and guardians as they are for teens themselves. Remind parents or guardians that you can help them tackle tough topics like relationships, anxiety, social pressures, school performance, sex, substance use and more together.
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- Understanding the Teen Well-Visit Schedule
Help set expectations and build the value of teen well-visits with your patients by sharing more details about what happens at well visits between 11 and 14, 15 and 17, and 18 to 21 years of age.
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- Let’s Get Real – Taking Charge of Your Health
this printable 11” x 17” poster includes age-relevant language, eye-catching graphics, and key information to help empower and encourage adolescents and teens to take charge of their health.
Download Now
Shareable Social Media Campaigns for Clinicians
Help reach parents and guardians at home with our easy-to-use, downloadable social media toolkit. Simply download the folder, find the post you want to share to your social media platforms, copy the post text and download the corresponding graphic, and post to your platform of choice!
These social media campaigns are ideal for:
Individual clinician pages | Practice wide pages | Health system pages
- Teens: Take Charge of Your Health Campaign
use this campaign throughout Adolescent Health Month (May) to engage with young patients on key topics like mental health, sexuality & gender, violence & injury prevention, nutrition, and more.
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- Teen Well-Visit Social Campaign
Share tailored social media massaging covering key topics like the teen well-visit schedule, why these visits are important for teens and parents/guardians, transitioning to adulthood, and more!
Download Now
Helping Parents Address Media Use Clinical & Parental Guidance Using the 5c's
The AAP has developed The 5 C’s of Media Use to help parents and guardians, and pediatric healthcare providers, with simple, quick ways to discuss digital media with families. Join our team as we review the 5c's with actionable steps you can take to better support your patient families.
AAP's Bright Futures
Prevention and Health Promotion for Infants, Children, Adolescents, and Their Families
Bright Futures is a national health promotion and prevention initiative led by the AAP. The Bright Futures Guidelines provide theory-based and evidence-driven guidance for all preventive care screenings and well-child visits. Explore Bright Future resources to address behavioral, social, and environmental determinants of health below:
Bright Futures Website for Health Professionals
Explore innovative content designed to optimize public health programs like home visiting, childcare, school-based health clinics, and many others. Materials developed especially for families are also available.
Bright Futures Social Media Toolkit
ICAAP has created social media graphics for health professionals to promote Bright Futures resources and tools.
Resources for Families Developed by Bright Futures
As parents and guardians, you play a special role in the healthy development and growth of your adolescent children. For additional support and guidance, explore these helpful resources that tackle topics like:
What to Expect at Well-Visits | Milestones in Growth | Family Support & Well-being
2023 Adolescent Health Webinars
Stay up-to-date on the latest information related to adolescent health topics (ex. mental health, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), emotional well-being, tobacco and substance use, violence and injury prevention, sexual health and healthy relationships, and physical health and health promotion). Receive information to also help increase adolescent well-care visits at your practice and explore practical tools for providing adolescent-friendly care.
Adolescent Mental Health and Collaborative Care
Increasing Access to Psychiatric Services in Academic Pediatric Primary Care Clinics: Two Education Driven Collaborative Care Models
Jeanne Greenblatt, MD, MPH
Ann & Robert H. Laurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
January 27, 2023
Health Equity & the Impact of Race and Racism
Define & explain the concept of health equity, discuss how racism prevents health equity, how to center health equity in pediatrics and adolescent health
Nia Heard-Garris, MD, MSc, FAAP
March 24, 2023
2022 Adolescent Health Webinars
The Mental Health of Adolescents: During COVID-19 and Beyond
January 27, 2022
The Value of Nutrition and Healthy Habits During Adolescence
February 25, 2022
Health Equity and the Impact of Race and Racism in Adolescent Care
March 25, 2022
Introducing the Updated Adolescent Health Toolkit
Helping Teens Take Charge of Their Health
When it comes to addressing health issues and behavior change, focusing specifically on adolescent health needs is a must. The transition from childhood to adulthood is one of the most dynamic and best times for engagement in human development. The rate to which physical, emotional, and intellectual changes are occurring during the adolescent stage provides an opportunity to positively impact health outcomes.
It is essential to adolescents’ health that their independence is built upon a strong foundation to invest in their future as healthy adults.
As part of a four-year project, ICAAP was awarded funding from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Adolescent Health Program, to address the state’s adolescent health needs through educational resources and tools. Through this grant, ICAAP developed this educational guide for clinicians, parents, and teens to utilize.
Maximize Patient Outreach With:
The Full Adolescent Health Toolkit
This toolkit is intended to be a resource for clinicians and their clinical team with updated information regarding best practices in adolescent health, common topics that may be important to your patients, and additional resources and support. This full toolkit includes the Adolescent Health Toolkit for Teens in English and Spanish and the Adolescent Health Toolkit for Parents & Guardians, allowing clinicians to review materials prior to appointment and to walk patients through during visits.
The Adolescent Health Toolkit for Teens
This toolkit is a patient-facing resource written expressly for adolescents, teens, and young adults, with detailed information on key topics like:
- Mental & Behavioral Health
- Tobacco, Alcohol, & Substance Use
- Sexual Assault
- Violence & Injury Prevention
- Sexual Health
- Gender Identity
- Nutritional Health
- Career & Financial Health
Clinicians may share this link with their patients, download the full kit and email it out, or have it printed as an available take home for patients.
The Adolescent Health Toolkit for Parents & Guardians
This toolkit is a patient-facing resource written for parents and guardians of adolescents, teens, and young adults. It includes key statewide resources to help address and prevent adverse childhood experiences along with easy-to-follow resources on:
- Raising Teens
- One-on-One Time
- Mental Health
- Positive Experiences for Teens
- Sexual Health
Clinicians may share this link with their patients, download the full kit and email it out, or have it printed as an available take home for patients.
Clinical Resources
For providers and their patients & families
Person-Centered Contraception
The AAP recommends pediatricians take a comprehensive approach to prescribing and counseling about contraception through offering evidence-based information and adolescent-centered support.
Clinical Report: Contraceptive Counseling and Methods for Adolescents
The Teen Brain: 7 Things to Know
Explore key information about the important changes happing in the brain during adolescence.
Children & Mental Health Fact Sheet
How can you tell the difference between challenging behaviors and emotions that are a normal part of growing up and those that are cause for concern? In general, consider seeking help if your child’s behavior persists for a few weeks or longer; causes distress for your child or your family; or interferes with your child’s functioning at school, at home, or with friends.
Confidentiality Resources
Online confidentiality resources for adolescents, young adults, and parents.
Positive Youth Development
Positive youth development (PYD) is not a specific curriculum but a model that can be used to enhance any youth-serving program. Youth-serving professionals should follow eight key practices to effectively incorporate PYD into their programs.