CAPE TOWN - Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) has officially opened its Adolescent Centre of Excellence to serve young people between the ages of 13 and 18.
The first of its kind public health facility will be providing a holistic package of care to patients who are referred from other facilities in the province. The services have been structured to be adolescent-friendly through the use of peer support.
Apart from general adolescent clinics, the service primarily serves to assist young adults to deal with chronic illnesses, ensure that they understand the need to be compliant with their medication, and to offer them counselling services, both as individuals and through group therapy, the health department said.
“The launch of this facility is very much aligned with the World Health Organization directive and focuses on adolescent health, notably with the understanding that investing in adolescent health today has multiple spin-offs in future years. The idea is to provide a home for adolescents with long-term health care until they are ready to transition into adult services, as well as to provide a space for expert opinion and care for general adolescent medical conditions,” paediatrician at the facility, Dr Zakira Sablay said.
The department has also partnered with the South African College of Applied Psychology (SACAP) and TB-HIV Care to address the gap in mental health services for adolescents. On-site counsellors will provide counselling for adolescents in addition to a newly established Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatient Department Clinic for non-acute psychiatric conditions once a week.
“The primary purpose of the SACAP Foundation is to address the inadequate provision of mental health care services in South Africa. The foundation seeks to be a positive force for change, oriented towards social justice and addressing the wide gap that exists between mental health service needs and available quality provision in disadvantaged and marginalised communities,” said Kim Starkey, counselling psychologist for SACAP Foundation.
Provincial health MEC, Nomafrench Mbombo added that there were eight priorities identified regarding young people, including HIV/TB/STI, Covid-19, gender-based violence, mental health, sexual reproductive health, maternal health and contraception, disability, LGBTQIA+ community members and alcohol and drug abuse prevention.
"This Centre covers all the above, and it is about youth empowerment. It will assist young people to make healthy decisions. There will also be interactions with parents, I see it also empowering families. This is innovation as the best intervention of dealing with social determinants of health,” said Mbombo.
Cape Times