Many adolescent health problems are related to their behavior, including accidents, violence, substance abuse and sexual activity. The way that adolescents think is complicated. Dr. Hergenroeder agrees. Absolutely, adolescent health care is fun. Compared to the 1960s, adolescents spend about 12 hours less a week with their family.
Parents are pretty important, to say the very least.
Teens are more likely to use tobacco and alcohol, for example, if their parents do. The program, the only one awarded in the southern United States, is one of seven such training sites nationwide. The other programs are in San Francisco, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Boston, Rochester, and Cincinnati. The program will benefit adolescents in Houston and eventually throughout the region, says core faculty member Dr. Mariam Chacko. Dr. Chacko is medical director of the Austin High School clinic, one of the three sites where the program is being put into practice.