Heya!
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HEYA! prepares young people (ages 15 -21) to train doctors, nurses and medical students to effectively talk with youth about their sexual health, to help cure awkwardness at the doctors office. HEYA helps teenagers become educated patients and advocates while giving adults privileged access to their diverse perspectives. HEYA! participants incorporate youth-friendly, culturally aware and LGBTQ inclusive information in their presentations. Teens are an important population to serve as they are forming life-long habits, have varying levels of sexual education and are at higher risk for certain challenges such as STDs, eating disorders and depression. HEYA gives youth a chance to find their voice and break down barriers that prevent them from having quality relationships with the health care system. The program was developed by teens in New York City in 2003, and since then, the National Institute’s Adolescent Health Care Communication Program has been training teenagers to express their perspectives to providers, and giving them a forum to do so. In 2008 the program expanded to Oregon. Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette (PPCW) is the largest non-profit family planning and reproductive rights organization in Oregon and Southwest Washington. HEYA have been an active arm of the education and outreach of PPCW for the last 3 years. HEYA! can only flourish within the context of its vital community partnerships. Recruited from the Portland public schools, HEYA youth are able to accrue community service credits while also building their resumes and gain public speaking skills. Participants span a wide range of backgrounds, though it's not uncommon for the program to attract pre-health students and budding change agents ready to begin making a positive impact in their community. HEYA delivers workshops and presentations to local health and youth service institutions. This year HEYA has worked with OHSU, Breckinridge School of Nursing, Youth Services Alliance and many more! |
THE WORK
Simulated Clinic Visit Adolescents serve as Standardized Patients for practicing clinical interviews and provide feedback to providers on the simulated clinic visit.
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“Keeping It Real with Your Patients”
An interactive, adolescent-led workshop. The workshop educates health care providers about confidentiality, youth rights, clarifying values and biases about sexuality, basic terms and concepts about sexuality and gender, and effective tools for communicating with young people about their sexual health.
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A chance for youth to find their voice
The program offers its youth participants the opportunity to hone their public speaking skills in a subject where they get to be the expert! HEYA is a safe and welcoming place for teens to develop their authenticity as presenters and deepen their commitment and definition of advocacy.
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