Helping Teens Help Themselves

National trends are focusing more and more attention on the need to improve the overall health and wellness of teenagers. One group, however, is being largely left out of this movement – teens in treatment. The approximately 140,000 young men and women in residential substance abuse treatment or juvenile justice facilities are among the country’s most troubled youth. More than half have co-occurring mental disorders including depression, anxiety or conduct disorder. Many practice risky sex, smoke and have poor sleep and health habits. The problems these youth face are often a function of their environment. Many grew up in homes where there were significant family problems, parental substance abuse and little structure or modeling of healthy behaviors.

 With generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Phoenix House recently brought together a group of national experts from the fields of adolescent development, health education, nutrition, substance abuse treatment and active living for a day-long roundtable meeting to discuss ways in which treatment programs can promote healthy, active living among adolescent clients. Such efforts support the overriding treatment goals by helping clients make healthier choices about their bodies and their lives that will stand them in good stead for the future.

This meeting was the first time that participants from these disparate fields came together to talk specifically about the health and wellness of adolescents in treatment. Two of the most crucial next steps in building an emphasis on physical exercise, nutrition and developmental wellness into adolescent treatment programs are gathering more data and then bringing together a larger group of experts to expand the conversation. Research will enable us to learn the nature and extent of the health risk factors specific to youth in residential substance abuse treatment and ultimately begin the work of designing approaches to meet those needs head on.

Expanding the conversation beyond the treatment and juvenile justice fields to practitioners of nutrition and fitness training and positive youth development will not only better inform the conversation about this population’s needs, but will also plant the seeds for a larger movement committed to serving adolescents in residential settings.

To read the meeting reports, click on the links below:

• Views from the Field – A white paper outlining the major issues surrounding adolescent health in residential substance abuse and juvenile justice settings.

• A Review of the Literature – An overview of the current research on adolescent health in residential substance abuse settings and discussion of the gaps in this knowledge base.

• Report from a Roundtable Meeting – A summary of the intensive, day-long roundtable meeting of experts on how best to address the health and development needs of adolescents in residential substance abuse and juvenile justice settings.