Take charge
You taking charge is the end goal for transition. It's a time to figure out your likes and dislikes and learn how to communicate them. It's the time to practice problem solving skills too. It's okay if you don't know something, it's a learning process!
Take charge of your health
MANAGING HEALTH CONDITIONS OR DISABILITY NEEDS
Transition can be a challenging task for anyone, but can be even harder for teens with a health condition or disability.
Learning to manage your health and thinking about the transfer to adult healthcare providers can seem overwhelming. But you can be on your way to stress free YHT planning with the library of tools on this website.
If you have a smartphone, wellness and transition apps are at your fingertips! There are apps to help choose good for you meals, medicine reminders, health history, mindfulness/relaxation, and even a YHT app. Check your app store to see what's available.
McMaster University publishes the My Transition App!
*Available in the apple and android store.
Remember, learning to manage your health and healthcare can take a while, so be patient with yourself and take it one step at a time!
Foster Care and YHT
Under the best of circumstances transitioning to adulthood is a challenge for teens. So much stuff going on - lots of decisions to be made about school, work, and relationships! Add aging out of foster care into the mix and transition can be scary task.
The good news is that there are programs to support you through the transition to adulthood. In the tool section below there are guides for youth in foster care from the experts at the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as from the US Department of Education.
If you live in Louisiana check out the Youth Links: Your Foster Care Journey site from the Department of Children and Family Services. Youth Links is designed to provide information on the resources that support transition to adulthood.
If you live outside of Louisiana, go to your state's Children and Family Services program website for information on foster care resources in your area.
Relationships, Sexual Health, Mental Health
Relationships
Positive relationships and friendships provide companionship, support, and a sense of belonging. Research tells us that strong relationships contribute to a healthy and happy life. However, to gain the benefits from friendships and relationships, they need to be healthy relationships!
What is a healthy relationship ? Healthy relationships have certain characteristics that include things like honesty, trust, and respecting each other. You should feel comfortable in your relationships. This is not saying you will always see eye-to-eye on everything, but you can agree to disagree and settle differences respectfully.
When you are in an unhealthy relationship, your partner may try to bully or control you physically, emotionally, and/or sexually. There's good info out there and checklists to help you determine if your relationship with someone is healthy. Both links below provides information on healthy and unhealthy relationships. The Loveisrespect.org has a phone and text helpline if you have questions or need help.
Loveisrespect.org - Healthy Relationships
TeenHealth - Am I in a Healthy Relationship?
Teen Sexual Assault: Information for Teens can be downloaded from the TOOL SECTION at the bottom of the page.
Sexual Health
All young adults have questions about navigating sexual health and sexual identity. Sexual health is defined as a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality.
Hopefully you have a trusted adult in your life who can answer your sexual health questions, starting with your nurse, doctor, or caregiver. The key is to find someone you are comfortable with (parent, school counselor, social worker, extended family member like an aunt or uncle).
Discussing sexual health might be an awkward conversation at first, but you'll probably discover your mentor is glad you came to them.
The links below offer trusted info from top experts with guaranteed privacy:
TeenHealth - Sexual Health
Medline Plus - Teen Sexual Health
CDC - Sexual Health
Be sure to get information on sexual health from the right source. There is good and not so good information on the internet. You can use the Trust It or Trash It web tool to evaluate online information.
Mental Health and Stress
When you think of health, you should think of physical and mental health. Managing your mental health is just as important as your physical health!
You’ve got a lot of changes going on. As you take more responsibility for yourself and for your care, you need to check in with your emotions. When something isn’t right with your mental health you’ve got to take action – just like when you've got a physical ailment.
The most important thing about keeping up with your emotions is being aware of them. Sometimes stress, sadness, and anxiety are a normal part of growing up. But it is not normal to always have these feelings, especially when affect your daily living.
When your emotions are too much or very different from normal for you, it’s time to reach out for help. Share your feelings with someone who can help, like a friend or caregiver.
The FosteringResilience website offers a step-by-step method for tackling stressful problems and creating your personal stress management plan.
TeenHealth hosts the online Stress & Coping Center where you can find expert mental health tips and guidance, along with great tools and worksheets - all private, all free!
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at (800) 273-8255.
The team at the Mayo Clinic (a whole bunch of experts) also have great methods for managing stress check out:
Positive Thinking
Self-talk can make a difference!
Advice from the Mayo Clinic:
"Positive thinking doesn't mean that you keep your head in the sand and ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst."
"Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information."
"If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking."
"If you tend to have a negative outlook, don't expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you."
"When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you're better able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking."
Learn ways to reduce your stress through positive thinking.
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Take Care of Your Mental Health: Don't Carry It Alone!
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