Each day, adolescents make important choices related to sex, alcohol and drugs, as well as other issues that potentially affect their mental health and well-being. Yet, minors generally are not aware of their rights to consult with or seek treatment from medical professionals on a confidential basis. Worse, the vast majority of physicians and health professionals do not understand when they may provide services to teens absent parental knowledge and/or consent. Even legal professionals who routinely represent minors lack a comprehensive understanding of a minor’s rights to consent to medical care and receive treatment confidentially. Increasing understanding among minors, parents and those who interact with them, particularly medical and legal professionals, is critical to ensuring that minors have the fullest possible access to medical assistance when it is needed. Recognizing this problem, the Duvall Project, in collaboration with Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, developed a reference card for doctors that explains the rights of minors to access sensitive health services, including family planning, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse treatment and psychological counseling. (View the card in HTML format, download the card in PDF format, or download an order form to receive a hard copy.) With the assistance of volunteers and numerous supporters in the medical community, these cards have been distributed to medical students, residents and interns in teaching hospitals throughout Pennsylvania. The Duvall Project has also developed a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary train-the-trainer course that explains minors’ ability to consent to various health care services, addresses the practical concerns that arise when discussing these issues with minors, and opens a dialogue between teens, parents and professionals about the difficult choices facing minors and their health consequences. To support the course, the Duvall Project has created a teaching manual, Do you have to tell my mom? Minors, health care and the law. For more information about the course, contact us at duvall@aclupa.org.
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