Adolescent-friendly services

The time has come to discuss adolescent-friendly services and what these should entail.

The attitudes and skills of the staff are the keys to successful healthcare for the adolescent. Communication skills include providing time without parental presence. Confidentiality in the patient-provider context is important but rules and practices vary from country to country and have to be learned. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children is a generic framework that makes a good starting-point. Ambiguous cases should be referred to groups of professionals and lay people trained in medical ethics.