Since 2015, the Workplace of Inhabitants Affairs (OPA) has been proud to spearhead Nationwide Teen Being pregnant Prevention Month, an annual observance every Might that started greater than twenty years in the past with a day of motion led by advocates to spotlight our collective duty to deal with the excessive charges of unintended being pregnant amongst teenagers. Our nation has made vital progress over the past 20 years, and younger individuals themselves have led the best way, serving to redefine for us all how we are able to and may help adolescent well being and wellbeing throughout this essential part of life. In recognition of our renewed and expanded dedication, we’re proud to announce that the Might observance has been renamed Nationwide Adolescent Well being Month, or NAHM.
We imagine phrases matter, and renaming the observance is rooted in 4 main realities. First, we need to replicate the adolescent well being area’s shift in focus away from stigmatizing teen being pregnant and younger individuals’s danger habits. Second, we see this observance as a chance to spotlight the significance of constructing investments in adolescent well being utilizing an asset-based, optimistic youth growth strategy. Third, a long time of public well being work have led to declines within the prevalence of sweet sixteen being pregnant and it’s essential to broaden the aperture to acknowledge the vary of adolescent well being wants that advantage our nationwide engagement. Lastly, OPA grantees, federal colleagues, advocates and different stakeholders within the adolescent well being area requested us to alter the title and focus of the observance. We listened!
OPA went via a rigorous course of to solicit enter and suggestions from HHS workers and exterior companions, together with interviews with HHS workers and a survey of OPA grantees, numerous federal company workers, State Adolescent Well being Coordinators, youth-serving professionals, adolescent healthcare suppliers, public well being teams, advocates, mother and father, and youth. Finally, the method led us to the brand new title and 4 weekly themes for this yr’s observance:
- Week 1: Empower youth with sexual and reproductive well being data and companies
- Week 2: Help psychological well being and nicely being
- Week 3: Encourage bodily well being and wholesome decision-making
- Week 4: Maintain equitable, accessible, youth-friendly companies
We launched the brand new observance final week and can be celebrating all through the month of Might. Our devoted NAHM webpages options details about a number of OPA Title X household planning and Teen Being pregnant Prevention (TPP) grantees, shareable pattern tweets, social media graphics, and e-newsletter and weblog textual content with key information about OPA grantees’ work to advertise adolescent well being. It additionally contains hyperlinks to sources from the Reproductive Well being Nationwide Coaching Middle and to movies on the OPA YouTube channel. Every week we’ll publish extra sources that associated to the weekly theme and spotlight the work of our grantees and federal companions.
Keep tuned within the second half of Might for 2 Twitter Takeover days, when younger individuals from two of OPA’s Teen Being pregnant Prevention packages will take over the OPA Twitter feed with their posts. We hope you’ll retweet them and amplify youth voices talking about adolescent well being. And all through the month TPP grantee youth will ship us unique paintings, poetry, music, images and essays that we’ll publish on the OPA web site later this yr as a part of Youth Create! 2022. You possibly can see a video compilation of final yr’s Youth Create! exercise right here.
I invite you to affix me in getting concerned in NAHM 2022 – right here’s how one can take part:
- Go to the webpage to search out sources and study our featured OPA grantees
- Obtain, customise, and share our pattern social media graphics and posts
- Retweet and Quote tweet OPA utilizing #NationalAdolescentHealthMonth and #HealthyYouthNAHM
- Amplify youth voice by retweeting grantee youth on OPA’s Twitter Takeover Days
- Inform us about your NAHM actions and posts
Study extra on the OPA Nationwide Adolescent Well being Month webpage.
