Community health services for adolescents in Israel--challenges for the next decade

Adolescent health issues have become an increasingly important challenge for public health in Israel. Meeting this challenge is difficult because of the special needs of this age group, inadequate training of health professionals, reimbursement policies, and the need for multisectorial cooperation. The past decade has seen a proliferation of community-based health services designed to meet the needs of adolescents. These services are of four basic types: 1) primary care clinics; 2) school health services; 3) multi-disciplinary adolescent health centers; and 4) other services, including reproductive health clinics, mental health and eating disorder units, and informal youth counseling centers. This development has taken place without systematic public health planning, including prioritization and the design of an orderly, integrative network of primary and referral services. We present national health planning goals to meet these challenges. These goals include: 1) defining the roles of each health care sector; 2) providing professional training to meet these roles; 3) facilitating the development of a rational system of community-based health services; and 4) offering a more equitable distribution of services. Implementing these goals should aid in better meeting the unique health needs Israel's adolescent population.