Welcome to the sixth edition of the newsletter for the Rebate Adolescent Health (RAd Health) trial. Many clinics have been involved in the trial for more than 12 months!

Once again, we appreciate your hard work, enthusiasm, and commitment to improving young people’s health outcomes.

Recruiting young people: happening now!

Excitingly, we have begun recruiting young people (aged 16-24) from practices participating in the RAd Health trial! Young people will be asked to complete an online survey (for which they will be paid). 

To find out more about what participation will involve, watch a short video which will be sent to young people via SMS.

There have been slight changes to the recruitment process. Recruitment of young people will now happen virtually (via SMS), which should minimise the impact on your practice. If we haven’t already been in touch to discuss this with your clinic, we will be soon!

With so many wonderful GPs enrolled in the RAd health trial we thought it would be nice to get to know a few with a new newsletter feature called GP spotlight!

Introducing Dr Jess Madden...

Tell us a bit about yourself and your special interests as a GP.

I’m a GP working in Albury-Wodonga with a special interest in adolescent health. I split my time between working in general practice, the Doctors in Secondary Schools program, doing school outreach work with Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service, and an occasional rural locum. I’ve also recently become involved on the Board of the Australian Association for Adolescent Health. AAAH is a recognised Specialist Society of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and has an active network to connect with through advocacy opportunities and events, including the upcoming Youth Health Conference in Brisbane. Highly recommend joining if you share an interest in adolescent health.

What makes you passionate about healthcare for young people? 

Young people really value having a trusted adult give them their undivided, non-judgemental attention and assistance with their concerns. If young people have a positive experience with a health professional at this age it can have a really big impact on their trajectory of health and interaction with the health system later in life. I feel relaxed and happy working with young people and enjoy injecting lots of humour and fun in our appointments.

Do you have any tips on how to get young people into the clinic for health assessments?

As we see many young people regularly anyway, we haven’t had to advertise. I frame a health assessment and HEADSS approach as the routine way that I would try to holistically assess/review any presenting problems – especially a mental health concern. If they come in for a short appointment, I let them know about the health checks and encourage them to book in again for a long appointment.

Do you have any tips on conducting successful health assessments with young people?

Be curious/interested, non-judgemental and allow plenty of time, and be flexible with the order of the assessment – for some of the most vulnerable young people, ‘Home’ isn’t always the easiest thing to start talking about.

Do you have any specific success stories that have come about because of a health assessment that stand out to you?

I’ve found the RAd trial has been a great reminder that the HEADSS framework is still so valuable in the 18-25 age group. Routinely asking young adults in this age group about vaping and checking up on missed childhood immunisations has led to some important discussions and actions that I might have missed otherwise.

We are conducting 30-minute interviews with GPs, nurses, and practice managers at both control and intervention clinics. We want to know to how you are finding the RAd Health trial—there are no right or wrong answers; we want your honest feedback! Interviews can be over the phone or by Zoom and scheduled at a time convenient to you. You will receive a $100 gift card for your time.

Interested in being interviewed? Respond to this email to let us know, and we will be in touch. Spaces are limited.

Looking for resources on disruptive behaviour in school aged teens? Listen to this episode of the Maze Phase podcast where GP Bianca Forrester talks with Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist A/Prof Sandra Radovini.

Image: Matt Botsford on Unsplash

For those new to the trial, RAd Health aims to determine whether a Medicare rebate payment for an annual young person’s health assessment (similar to that available for other age-based health assessments such as the 75+ assessment) is effective at increasing the detection and management of risk behaviours and health conditions among 14–24-year-olds.

If we find that this rebate improves health outcomes, this will provide us with the necessary evidence to advocate for a Medicare rebate payment for these assessments. Visit our website for more information.

TikTok is the most popular social media app amongst young people at the moment. The majority of teens aged 13-17 say they use TikTok (63%), Snapchat (60%) and Instagram (59%).

Image by antonbe from Pixabay