Improving the Delivery of Adolescent Clinical Preventive Services Through Skills-Based Training

Abstract

This study offers strong support for the efficacy of skills-based training for primary care providers as a method for increasing screening and counseling practices with adolescents. The present findings suggest that with appropriate skills-based training, practicing clinicians can implement several of the national guidelines that direct them to provide preventive services for multiple behaviors in a routine outpatient visit. Screening and counseling in these visits are important in the early identification, detection, and prevention of behaviors associated with the primary adolescent morbidities and mortalities. Thus, enhancing the delivery of clinical preventive services is an important step in the prevention of untoward health outcomes for youth.