Report on the State of
Youth and Young Adults —Life in Transition
David Butler-Jones, Chief Public Health Officer of
Available online PDF [193p.] at: http://bit.ly/uGPkld
“…..The report considers many health issues affecting this population such as physical and mental health, injury, sexual and reproductive health and substance use and abuse. By discussing these issues and how they are addressed, the report identifies priority areas for action to maintain healthy transitions of young Canadians into adulthood.
Public health is about preventing disease and optimizing health. The focus is on promoting and supporting the health of the public, rather than treating the illnesses of individuals. By helping to keep people healthy, the public health system can help to relieve some of the pressures on the hospital and acute health-care system.4-6
Public health includes:
••food, water and air quality, including health inspection services;
••promoting health-enhancing opportunities and behaviours
(e.g. smoking cessation programs, healthy nutrition, prevention and treatment programs for drug and alcohol use);
••basic sanitation (e.g. sewage treatment);
••disease and injury prevention programs (e.g. vaccinations);
••monitoring, screening, diagnosis and reporting on risks and risk factors
(e.g. surveillance of disease to detect outbreaks and identify risk factors for communicable diseases, such as influenza, as they occur in humans); and
••identifying and changing harmful community conditions and promoting safe communities
(e.g. impact on health due to the lack of recreational areas, safe housing, education and child care).5-8
Public health also includes factors – both inside and outside the health-care system – that affect or determine our health. These include income and socio-economic status, social support networks, education and literacy, early childhood development and healthy workplaces.9-14
The goal is to ensure everyone enjoys universal and equitable access to the basic conditions that are necessary to achieve health, whether those conditions fall within the public health system or outside of it. …”
Public health is defined as the organized efforts of society to keep people healthy and prevent injury, illness and premature death. It is the combination of programs, services and policies that protect and promote health
“…..Although this report focuses on the health and well-being of youth aged 12 to 19 years and young adults aged 20 to 29 years, it is relevant to all Canadians. Everyone has a role to play and everyone benefits from the creation of healthy environments. Adolescence and young adulthood is generally a time of good health and well-being; however, it is also a time of significant biological, psychological, economic and social transition. It is also a period during which most individuals establish lifelong attitudes and behaviours, setting the stage for their future health and well-being. ….”
.
Content:
A Message from Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer
Executive Summary
Chapter 1: Introduction
Why a report on the state of public health in
The goals of the report
What is public health?
Who is this report about?
What does the report cover?
Chapter 2: Setting the Stage for Healthy Life Transitions – A Public Health History
Public health and the lifecourse approach
Lifecourse transitions of youth and young adults
Moving forward
Chapter 3: The Health and Well-being of Canadian Youth and Young Adults
Social demographics of the youth and young adult population
Residence
Education, employment and income
The current health of
Mental health and mental illness
Physical health
Health risk behaviours
Chapter 4: Creating Healthy Transitions
The approach
Creating supportive environments for transition
Developing resilience
Addressing risky behaviours
Enhancing positive mental health and protective factors
Approaches to preventing suicide
Preventing unintentional injury
Bullying and aggression
Sexual and reproductive health issues
Healthy weights and healthy living
Substance use and abuse
Chapter 5: Moving Forward – Priority Areas for Action
Priority areas for action
Improving and making better use of population and program evidence
Increasing education and awareness
Building and maintaining supportive and caring environments
Approaching problems from all sides with co-ordinated, multi-pronged, inter-sectoral action
Making progress
Appendix A: List of Acronyms
Appendix B: Indicators of Our Health and Factors Influencing Our Health
Appendix C: Definitions and Data Sources for Indicators
References
Figures
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