reproductive health services for adolescents - Pathfinder International

Module 16/Unit 4
Specific Objective #2: Demonstrate behaviors conducive to
counseling adolescent clients
CONTENT
Knowledge/Attitudes/Skills
RESPONDING TO THE ADOLESCENT
CLIENT
While all clinic staff must be supportive
and helpful to the adolescent, those who
provide services have additional
challenges. Important among these are
fostering comfort and encouraging trust
and rapport.
Fostering Comfort
The more an adolescent client can be
made comfortable, the more likely s/he
will open up about her/his concerns, play
a role in determining treatment and
follow-up, and comply with medical
decisions.
Three important characteristics of
comfort for the adolescent client are:
• Privacy: This characteristic relates
primarily to the facility and requires a
separate space where counseling
and/or examination can take place
without being seen or overheard and
where the interaction is free from
interruptions.
• Confidentiality: This characteristic
relates to the provider and requires
that s/he assure the client that all
discussions and matters pertaining to
the visit will not be transmitted to
others.
Training/Learning Methods
(Time Required)
BRAINSTORMING AND TRAINER
PRESENTATION
(10 MIN.)
The trainer should:
Ask Px, what are common concerns
or needs that adolescents have
regarding client-provider interactions.
• Present Responding to the
Adolescent Client from the content on
the left-hand side of the page.
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS
(50 MIN.)
The trainer should:
• Explain that this exercise will address
the importance of confidentiality,
some exceptions to the general
practice, and the legal climate within
the country.
• Divide the Px into 3 groups, providing
them with flipcharts. Each group will
discuss confidentiality and present
conclusions.
• Distribute Small Group Discussion
Topics (Px Handout 4.1)
4.1
−
If, in some circumstances, the
counselor/provider believes it
necessary to share information
with others (for example, to
• Ask each group to work on their
respective assignment (Group A-
Assignment A, Group B-Assignment
B, Group C-Assignment C).
Pathfinder International
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Adolescent Curriculum