Welcoming and Accessible Environment Established

Implementation Tips

• Expand clinic hours of operations to include evening and weekend hours
• Implement/extend walk-in hours
• Offer telehealth visits through video calls and other remote options
• Offer the option to schedule/confirm appointments via text message

Tools & Resources

Implementation Tips

• Use signage and language that is inclusive of and appealing to diverse adolescent patients (e.g., images of young people of different body types, ability/disability, same-sex couples, and race and ethnicity, as well as use of bright colors and graphics)
• Consider an adolescent waiting room separate from other pediatric patients and adult patients
• Provide a private area for adolescents to complete screening assessments confidentially
• Place white noise machines and dividers at reception to increase privacy
• Provide Wi-Fi, outlets, charging stations, and youth-friendly TV/magazines in the waiting room
• Provide healthy snacks since adolescents often come from school and may not have had a chance to eat anything
• Designate gender-neutral bathrooms
• Take advantage of virtual spaces—promote ASRH services on the health center website in a way that appeals to adolescent patients (e.g., interactive features, illustrated concepts, quick to navigate)

Tools & Resources

Implementation Tips

• Train all staff (e.g., medical assistants, financial and front desk staff) on adolescent development
• Include ASRH health basics in onboarding training and/or compliance trainings

Tools & Resources

Implementation Tips

• Offer training that increases capacity to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate services (services that are respectful of and responsive to individual cultural health beliefs and practices, preferred languages, health literacy levels, and communication needs)
• Provide trainings that address implicit bias (attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner)
• Train care team members on how to provide patient-centered care to LGBTQIA+ adolescents, youth with disabilities, and young men
• Offer trainings that increase awareness of racism and other forms of discrimination that unfairly disadvantage certain people and lead to social and health inequities; offer trainings that support care team members to promote racial justice, reduce health disparities, and advance health equity for youth
• Provide on-going trainings that focus on staff at different levels (e.g., care team member meetings, “all staff” meetings)
• Find community support if trainings cannot be offered in-house. There are many organizations and health care entities that have such offerings.
• Use scripts to ensure gender-inclusivity

Tools & Resources

Addressing Racism in our Daily Interventions: Reclaiming the Right to Dream Big for ALL!

Implementation Tips

• Ask questions about sexual orientation and gender identity and record the patient’s responses in the electronic health record. Questions can also be asked on paper and electronic patient registration forms.

Tools & Resources

Implementation Tips

• When engaging youth, make sure events or meetings are interactive to increase engagement, responsive to youth needs, and diverse to ensure a broad representation of youth in the community (e.g., race and ethnicity, ability/disability, income level, age, gender, sexual orientation, language)
• Form a youth advisory council to help build relationships with the community, increase awareness of services, and increase understanding of youth perspectives
• Assess patient experience

Tools & Resources