SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES FOR UNDERAGE, YOUNG AND ADOLESCENT PEOPLE IN OUR LOCAL HEALTH SERVICE

1. SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES FOR UNDERAGE, YOUNG AND ADOLESCENT PEOPLE IN OUR LOCAL HEALTH SERVICE DOTT. GIOVANNA PICCIOTTI Local Health Service no.12 Chief Executive San Benedetto del Tronto

2. Two are the local Health Services for infancy: • Paediatricians • Family Advice Bureau Besides, two more services are provided for specific needs: Infant Neuropsychiatry Service and a Multidisciplinary Unit for disablesin the age of development. The Family Advice Bureau was established by law no.405 in 1975 as “motherhood and family aid”. So it was established before our National Health Service (law no. 883 in 1978, with which a health service is guaranteed to all Italian citizens, a part from their incomes). In this law n.883, Local Health Services were defined as structures for first level and first aid interventions.

3. The National Health Service, 1994-96, stated the Equal Level Aids to be guaranteed to all citizens: 1 -life and work health service -contagious diseases prophylaxis -environmental pollution health risk prevention -life and work health risk prevention 2 -general and paediatric medicine -pharmaceutical aid -disables and elderly people’s home aid -territory specialists 3 -diagnostic, instrumental and laboratory diagnosis and family advice bureau -drug addiction service -psychiatry aid -rehabilitation prosthesis and spa aid -integrative aids: dietetic products, medicines -integrative aids: dietetic products, medicines

4. 4 -hospital services -emergency admission -day hospital and ordinary admissions 5 -residential health aid -non self-sufficient and long-term patients aid -psychiatry aids for elderly people, drug addicts, psycho and physic disables in special structures 6 -general health service supporting activities -general services -management • In our National Health Service Policy 1998/2000 a new role for the local health service is established. It is: • coordination and integration of all the outside health services • centre for all kinds of health problems

5. THE LOCAL HEALTH SERVICE IS THE POINT OF REFERENCE FOR: • Elderly people health aid • Motherhood and infancy aid and protection • Drug addiction prevention, treatment and rehabilitation

6. PAEDIATRICS Every Italian citizen has the right to a general health service that consists of a general medicine doctor for people elder than 14 and paediatrics for children under 14. Having a paediatric is compulsory for underage between 0 and 6 years of age, whilst children between 7 and 14 can have a general medicine doctor.

7. FAMILY ADVICE BUREAU The function of a family advice bureau are: Female health protection: prevention of sexual passed diseases, psycho-social discomfort, puberty, menopause, female tumour premature diagnosis, abortion. Reproduction protection: contraception, infertility, sterility, preconception, training to delivery and birth, pregnancy, puerperium. Infancy and adolescent protection: psycho –physic and social development control, premature diagnosis of congenital diseases, anomalies and disabling diseases, psycho -social discomfort, early obesity. Sexuality: information and education on sexual diseases, sexual abuse inside and outside families

8. Couples and family relationships Parental duties on children, underage care and education New spaces for pre –adolescence, adolescence, young individuals and couples, immigrants • Young advice bureau: meeting point, information and advice, also in schools, on adolescent problems connected with sexuality, adolescent discomfort and food-related diseases. • Food education projects to prevent and cure food problems in young people. Other sectors have been developed: Underage project law 285 1997. Program agreements with the local municipalities involving local health service and local education superintendence have been established.

9. Services for adolescents The local health services for adolescents, a part from the family advice bureau, are Drug addiction service (Ser.t) and Underage Disables’ Rehabilitation service (UMEE). A prevention and aid net for adolescents is being organized for: • Food diseases- anorexia and bulimia • Alcohol, nicotine, drug abuse • Doping in sports

10. Professional workers The professional workers in the family advice bureau are: Gynaecologists, psychologists, pedagogues, social assistants, paediatrics, obstetricians, sociologists. These activities are developed through easy interventions and “offer packages” to solve the target’s needs and questions.

11. In the same place the following are ensured: • Information, health education, social promotion • Gynaecological and obstetrician aid • Paediatric aid to promote the psycho-physic and social children education • Obstetric, gynaecological and paediatric diagnosis and treatment with the help of the hospital structures • UMEE, UMEA, Local Health Service of our district to make interventions on people’s aid, overall pregnant women, women with children, underage people, when one of the member of the family has psychological, psychiatric, medical, drug addiction problems • Coordination between territory ambit and municipalities to integrate socio- health aids

12. A Team for international adoption, family trust and integrated underage service has also been created. • Working groups are programmed to support parents, basic prevention, workers training, motherhood and children protection, premature psychological diagnosis and treatment for children and adolescents. • These activities are organized in projects, together with individual performances for specific age and problem targets.