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Barb Asimakopolous has accepted the position of Director. Training is available upon request for the following curriculums: DeMystifying Adolescence, Talking With Teens About Depression and Suicide, Talking with Teens Adult Adolescent Communication, and PACT;Positive Adolescent Choices. Some of these curriculums are going to be updated, some aspects will be developed specificaly for parents. For information contact Barb at 480-820-5280 or the AAHC at (602) 265-9686 (message phone)

We are planning a Community Advisory Committee meeting later this month to assist us with further development of the Institute.

There is an active Training Committee developing the standards for trainers, some will review modifications to the curricula and providing us with updates.

We contracted with B.J. Tatro to create this report. We are delighted to have an active Advisory Committee who will be reviewing each section and assisting us in the development of recommendations.

While we plan to have the Executive Summary on our web site, copies of the report will be available on CD.

A project of the Adolescent subcommittee of the MCH committee of the Arizona Medical Association is getting ready to seek funding. This handbook includes GAPS, (Guidelines for Adolescent Prevention Screening) to be used in any primary care setting with adolescents and their parents. The use of a pre-screening tool assists in early identification of potential problems and the opportunity to initiate prevention/treatment. The book includes sample health education fact sheets, resources for parents, web sites and state and national resources for behaviors that may interrupt healthy adolescents from reaching their potential. It is also available on a CD. Your Coalition is a partner along with AZ. Pediatric Association, AZ. Family Practice Assn., ARMA and the Office of Women’s and Children’s Health, ADHS.

We had over 200 participants, the support of our many exhibitors, donors and terrific presenters, and your evaluations rated the conference as valuable!We received many ideas for future conferences and will try to address them for next year.

Teen Lifeline, Not My Kid, and your Arizona Adolescent Health Coalition have been awarded a $25,000 grant from The Arizona Republic, Arizona Public Service Co. and the United Way to develop a model to show other 501c3 organizations how to improve collaboration and cohabitation that will maximize their effectiveness. Research into best practice is occurring. The goal will be a training program and “How to” notebook that will include sample agreements.A first collaborative effort is our joint exhibiting at the School Nurse Consortium Conference, July 24th.St. Luke’s Health Initiatives has awarded your AAHC a Strategic Business Planning Grant of $5000. Katie McLoughlin of McLoughlin Associates has been working with your Board to in a Planning Process and now an Implementation Phase. We are planning to develop an Adolescent Health Training Institute. Contacts have been made with potential funders and we hope soon to have many grant applications that will seek funding for the Institute and other projects relating to our Mission and Goals.

On behalf of the Arizona Adolescent Health Coalition we take this opportunity to extend a heartfelt welcome!To assist us all in the improvement of Arizona adolescent health outcomes, improving communication and collaboration, we cordially invite you to participate in the planning and implementation of our activities.Your opinions, ideas and involvement are vital.

There are many opportunities are available to participate on Committees: Conference, Fact Sheet, Quarterly Meeting, Fundraising, Newsletter to name a few. Call Barbara Olson at: (623) 561-8772 for information. Our success depends on your participation!You can participate via conference call and email.

Working with families of adolescents can be challenging. Parents are often left wondering if they somehow failed or if there is a major problem with their teenager. The following information can help parents, as well as, professionals understand and keep a developmental perspective when communicating with teens.
In order to effectively interact with adolescents you must take into consideration their developmental growth and implement basic communication skills on a new level. Essentially, adolescents are in the midst of an active process of change which can make their world feel chaotic to them and to those who interact with them. As difficult as it sometimes seems, these changes must take place in order for them to move from childhood to adulthood. The developmental changes occur across four domains: cognitive, emotional, physical and social.
The physical changes are apparent as we see the growth spurt and the development of secondary sex characteristics. The cognitive changes allow for increased verbal skills and a deeper understanding of their world and those around them. Their social and emotional growth deals with autonomy and relationship issues.
If we apply basic communication skills, taking all of these changes into consideration, our chances of maintaining a good relationship with adolescents increase. The communication skills we need to effectively relate with them can be divided into verbal and nonverbal categories, which includes behaviors such as not speaking. It's important to understand that 80% of our communication is nonverbal. This means listening and observing needs to be at the top of the list of skills we use with adolescents. Active listening means we listen for understanding rather than truth and we respond to the real message they are conveying. The body language we use sends powerful messages to others about the importance we place on them. By using appropriate facial expressions, eye contact, body posture and voice inflection we engage them to interact with us. The increased cognitive ability allows teens to broaden their verbal capacity to include humor, wit and innuendo previously unavailable to them. If we learn to appreciate their advanced verbal abilities and keep it positive by avoiding sarcasm, verbal assaults and other hostile behaviors, we can actually enjoy their new found verbal abilities.
Taking into consideration the developmental changes, allow teens to complete an awkward phase of their life with dignity. When adults transcend the often difficult moments of this phase by encouraging teens and engaging in respectful communication, the results are positive and life affirming. The communication skills adolescents learn will be used throughout their lifetime, and so we have a real opportunity to help them develop tools needed for future success.

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