Adolescent Medicine Consulting

Our latest video is on the importance of PLANNING!!!
So important for teens and young adults and those of us who care for them!
Let us know what you think!

At this time of year there are LOTS of parties and celebrations! While this is generally a fun time, it is also a time when teens and young adults can have some serious problems, such as alcohol use, unprotected s*x and physical or s*xual assaults.

In this video, we talk about ways to help the teens you see stay safe!

Here are some of the resources we recommend:

Condoms: https://www.cdc.gov/condom-use/index.html

Phexxi: https://www.phexxi.com/

Nasal Naloxone: https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/naloxone

Narcan: https://narcan.com/en/

Kloxxado: https://kloxxado.com/

Emergency Contraception: https://www.bedsider.org/birth-control/emergency_contraception

Additionally, we share some billing codes you can use to document the time and effort you spent counseling:

Codes for counseling individual patients are 99401-99402-99403 and 99404. Starting at 15 minutes for the 99401 up to 60 minutes for a 99404.

If you are doing group counseling, the codes are 99411 for 30 minutes and 99412 for 60 minutes of counseling.

As always we are happy to answer your questions and concerns about adolescent health issues. Please reach out to us at www.adolescentmedicineconsulting.com or sending an email to [email protected]!

We welcome the opportunity to discuss this and other topics in our monthly Zoom sessions which occur on the second Wednesday of the month at 8pm Eastern. Here's the registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkf-uorzgqHNw7mDHXFxleLUqKloN05csH

Wishing you all the best this holiday season!

In this video we return to our "what to do when series...." to discuss Social Media.

There is A LOT of material on this topic. For this video we will focus on some data about social media use, a few assessment questions you can ask during a visit and resources you can share with patients and families.

References:

Surgeon General's Report on Social Medical and Youth Mental Health

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-summary.pdf

AAP Family Media Plan:
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/fmp/Pages/MediaPlan.aspx

StopBullying.gov
https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/how-to-report

AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health
https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/center-of-excellence-on-social-media-and-youth-mental-health

As always we are happy to answer your questions and concerns about adolescent health issues. Please reach out to us at www.adolescentmedicineconsulting.com!

Tune in for the next video where will wrap up this series with a discussion of Spirituality!

This video is for first time voters and those who care for them.

I share 4 steps to help 1st time voters feel a little more comfortable with the process.

The sound is not as great as I like it to be since I am trying out new tech and wanted to get this out quickly!

Here are some key points and references:

A lot of young people don't vote because they aren't sure who to vote for or are worried about making the "wrong" choice. Here are some steps to get more comfortable with the voting process.

1) Think about what’s important to YOU!

Yes, other people's thoughts are important, but your thoughts are important too. It's OK to have an opinion that is different from your friends and family.

2) Make sure you are registered to vote. You can check your voter registration status at

https://www.ballotready.org/

or

https://www.usa.gov/who-you-can-vote-for

If you are not already registered, it's too late to register for this year, you can register now and be set for next year!

You can also help others vote by keeping them company on the line or babysitting while a parent, friend or neighbor goes to vote.

3) Find out about the candidates.

I start by looking at ballotpedia https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page and then cross-reference their info with some of the sites below:

https://www.votesmart.org/

https://www.vote411.org/

https://www.naacpldf.org/research-candidates-state-local-elections/

4) This is the most important part----GO VOTE!!!

You can make a voting plan at ballotready.org or plan to go with a friend or family member.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS! Let it be heard! LET IT BE COUNTED!!

In this video we cover one of the optional "S"s in the HEADSS assessment---Sleep!

We discuss why adolescents have challenges with their sleep schedule and some strategies to help!

Here are the links to the references:
CDC Data on Youth Sleep:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2016/052.pdf (a little old, but still relevant)

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine:
https://sleepeducation.org/aasm-high-school-video-contest-award-winners-for-2024/

https://aasm.org/advocacy/initiatives/school-start-times/

The National Sleep Foundation:
https://www.thensf.org/what-to-know-about-teens-and-sleep/

The American Medical Association:
https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-supports-delayed-school-start-times-improve-adolescent-wellness

The National Education Association:
https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/later-school-start-times-more-popular-what-are-drawbacks

Keep tuning in for more information about teen health!

Reach out through our website---www.adolescentmedicineconsulting.com---if you have any specific questions or concerns!