School of Global Health, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, Canada.
Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 27;19(8):e0304465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304465. eCollection 2024.
Routine health check-ups may improve adolescent health, but global guidelines are lacking. Phase 1 of the WHO-coordinated Y-Check Research Programme involved three African cities to co-produce a programme of adolescent health check-ups. We describe a systematic approach to developing a routine adolescent health check-ups and wellbeing programme (Y-Check) to contribute evidence on whether adolescent health check-ups should be part of routine health services in Ghana.
Y-Check Phase 1 was conducted in four communities in Cape Coast Ghana, over two stages using a variety of methods: (a) needs assessment and landscape analysis on the health of adolescents (existing policies/programmes, school system, adolescent health conditions) was conducted through desk-review and interviews with key informants to identify the potential content, delivery strategy and settings for adolescent health check-ups in this context; (b) co-designing the Y-Check intervention framework through person-centred participatory workshops and a consensus-building workshop with multiple stakeholders, including adolescents (10-19 years) and their parents. The study was conducted between January 2020 and October 2020.
The Y-Check intervention consists of two check-ups with content that is tailored to the needs of younger adolescents and older adolescents; delivered at both school and community settings by a team of trained staff in multiple steps involving up to four stations. Y-Check includes a referral system for adolescents with any problems that cannot be investigated or treated on-the-spot.
Our systematic approach to co-producing Y-Check has resulted in an intervention whose content and structure is determined by the local context, and which was adjudged by multiple stakeholders to be likely to be both useful and acceptable, and which builds on best practice. As a logical next step, the Y-Check will be subjected to pilot testing and implementation research to rigorously evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, coverage, yield of previously undiagnosed conditions and cost of these health check-ups.
常规健康检查可能会改善青少年的健康状况，但全球指南仍有所欠缺。世卫组织协调的 Y-Check 研究计划第一阶段涉及三个非洲城市，共同制定了青少年健康检查计划。我们描述了一种系统的方法来制定常规青少年健康检查和健康计划（Y-Check），以提供证据表明青少年健康检查是否应该成为加纳常规卫生服务的一部分。
Y-Check 第一阶段在加纳科特海岸的四个社区进行，分两个阶段使用了多种方法：（a）通过桌面审查和关键知情人访谈，对青少年健康（现有政策/计划、学校系统、青少年健康状况）进行需求评估和景观分析，以确定在这种情况下进行青少年健康检查的潜在内容、提供策略和场所；（b）通过以人为中心的参与式研讨会和多方利益相关者（包括 10-19 岁青少年及其父母）共识建设研讨会，共同设计 Y-Check 干预框架。该研究于 2020 年 1 月至 10 月进行。
Y-Check 干预措施包括两次检查，内容根据青少年的需求量身定制；由经过培训的团队在学校和社区环境中提供，采用多个步骤，涉及多达四个站点。Y-Check 包括一个转诊系统，用于治疗或调查现场无法处理的任何问题的青少年。
我们系统地共同制定 Y-Check 的方法，产生了一种干预措施，其内容和结构由当地情况决定，而且多个利益相关者认为该干预措施既有用又能被接受，并借鉴了最佳实践。作为下一步，Y-Check 将接受试点测试和实施研究，以严格评估这些健康检查的可行性、可接受性、覆盖率、以前未诊断出的疾病的发生率和成本。
