The Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent Health

Minnesota Department of Health has launched the Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent and Young Adult Health action plan (PDF) to motivate, engage and inspire action to support community-based efforts that impact young people.

The plan is organized around five essential themes to adolescent health and each theme has two priorities.

Equitable and supportive systems

 Young people and their families need safe communities and environments, shelter, education, healthy food, a livable income, and social justice to be healthy and thrive.

• Health equity

• Supportive systems

Access to high quality, youth-friendly health care and information

Young people benefit from access to high quality medical, dental, and mental health services and health information.

• Physical and mental health

• Health literacy

Positive connections with supportive adults

Young people thrive and flourish when they are surrounded by caring and nurturing relationships with supportive adults.

• Families and caregivers

• Adults who understand

Safe and secure places to live, learn, and play

Schools, communities, and digital environments all play a role in supporting health, social interactions, and cognitive growth.

• Supportive schools and communities

• Safe and balanced technology use

Opportunities for youth to engage

Young people grow and thrive best when actively engaged with their community and have meaningful leadership opportunities.

• Youth leadership

• Out of school time

This project began back in 2018, when MDH convened a group of stakeholders representing state, county, schools, community agencies, faith organizations, those working for and with young people, and young people to develop an action plan for adolescent and young adult health in Minnesota. The Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent and Young Adult Health (MNPAH) strategic plan was developed in 2019. However, due to the COVID pandemic, the work related to the plan was halted.

Updates were made to the original plan, and while many priorities and action steps remained the same, health equity was added as a priority for action along with health literacy and safe and balanced technology use.

Learn more about this project and specific action steps on the Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent Health website which features community partners and local and national resources.

MDH’s adolescent health newsletters will begin featuring an adolescent health priority each month, while highlighting a community partner working to address this priority. The newsletter will also continue to share adolescent health resources, trainings, grant opportunities, and research.

The Minnesota Partnership for Adolescent and Young Adult Health is a collective working towards the vision that Minnesota is a place where all young people THRIVE. We invite you to share your adolescent health programs, resources, and trainings at Health.AdolescentHealth@state.mn.us