Issue 44 July 2009

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Page 13 of 13

Second Story

The Second Story is the Youth Division of the Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service (CYWHS), and provides primary health care services. The term Primary Health Care can be defined as “the essential health care made accessible at a cost the country and community can afford, with methods that are practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable”.

Funded by the SA Department of Health, the Second Story has around 50 staff plus approximately 15 grant-funded staff who provide services across the metropolitan Adelaide area. The team of staff consists of information and referral officers, community health nurses, community health workers and medical staff.

The Second Story provides free and confidential health services for young people from the ages of 12 to 25. Priority health issues are those related to mental health, sexual health and substance abuse. Other important concerns are the effects of violence, lifestyle issues, homelessness and unemployment.

Priority populations include socially disadvantaged young people, young parents, indigenous youth, same-sex-attracted young people, early school-leavers and young people in secure care centres.

The service aims to provide an integrated and co-ordinated service, so there is cross-referral between medical and counselling services and group programs. Liaison with other services to promote appropriate and “youth-friendly” services is a fundamental part of our work. We are also contracted to provide clinical services at the Magill and Cavan Secure Care Training Centres.

Confidentiality has been identified as a major issue with young people. On the first consultation, the client is made aware of Your Rights and Responsibilities: A Charter for South Australian Public Health System Consumers. Clients are also informed on the limits of confidentiality. Workers are required to adhere to legal responsibilities outlined in government legislation.

The Second Story provides community health workers who give accurate health information, referral and support, on the Youth Health line. The Youth Health line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call 1300 13 17 19, or for mobile users 8303 1691 (normal rates apply).

The ‘Inside Out’ project is for young men under 26 who are gay, bisexual, transgender, attracted to other guys, or questioning their sexuality. Inside Out includes counselling, workshops, support groups, advocacy, HIV/AIDS counselling and testing, and links with other agencies.

‘Evolve’ includes programs and drop-in groups aimed at bringing together same-sex-attracted women, or those questioning their sexuality, aged 16 to 26 years, to discuss issues of same-sex attraction and to provide health information and support.

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A History of The Second Story Youth Health Service

For the most part, health services for young people in South Australia were fragmented before 1985, and many young people felt disenfranchised. CAFHS’ Adolescent Team offered a limited health service to young people, as did community health centres, local councils, local community groups, GPs and the Family Planning Association.

Community health and youth workers, aware of the lack of co-ordinated health services available for young people living in SA, began to lobby the state government for discrete funding to be made available for the provision of youth-specific health services.

It was subsequently identified by a ministerial working party that in SA there was a range of major issues facing young people and a need for a specific service whose environment would encourage (rather than discourage) young people’s access, with a multidisciplinary staff with skills required to work with young people.

It was also concluded that it was necessary for a youth health centre to reflect the fact that young people’s health is affected by a range of factors (such as housing and employment), and that these factors must be addressed in order to provide a holistic approach to health care.

And so in the early 1980s the then Health Minister visited a Youth Service called the ‘The Door’, based in New York. This Manhattan centre was a community-based multi–service centre, whose service model essentially involved the provision of comprehensive and integrated services while developing linkages with and among existing service systems.

The idea was brought back to South Australia, and a service to meet the health needs of young people between 12 and 25 years was opened in 1985 by the then Premier, John Bannon, on the second floor of a building in Rundle Mall: hence the name ‘The Second Story’.

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On Tuesday, 21 April, a small group of peer educators from Second Story’s ‘Inside Out’ and ‘Evolve’ project received training about hepatitis C from the Hepatitis C Council of SA. I was part of this group, and I found the experience to be very informative, well-planned and presented with a positive mindset and atmosphere.

I learned quite a lot of new information which in just one short month I’ve had the privilege of sharing with people in my home, at my work and in my social environment.

What surprised me the most was just how little I knew about hepatitis in general, which is what inspired the cartoon below: ‘Education beats hepatitis C!’

Cartoon_submission

Jamie Burford [back to top]

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