Our Cause – Our Challenge!

If you believe in the value of pediatric vaccinations – give us just two more minutes of your time:

As you may have guessed, we are passionate about reducing health risk behaviors in adolescents here at RAAPS.  But before you can reduce risk – you must first identify it.  Unfortunately, risk screening is not yet standard practice among those serving our adolescent population. In healthcare we advocate the adoption of evidence-based practices that prevent avoidable illness – take vaccinations as a case in point:

We have adopted the standardized practice of pediatric vaccination because they help prevent avoidable illness and death.

So…let’s compare some numbers:

THEN… NOW…
450-500 lives lost annually because of the measles (1950s) 4600 lives lost each year to teen suicide
Polio crippled around 35,000 people each year  (1950s) About 12,000 youth infected with HIV annually
Up to 200,000 cases of diphtheria per year (1920s) 228,000  15- to 20-year-old drivers injured in vehicle crashes last year
As many as 300,000 mumps cases reported every year (1960s) 329,797  babies were born to teens aged 15–19 years

Standardized risk assessments help prevent avoidable illness and death in adolescents.

With 75% of all illness and death in the teen population attributable to preventable risk behaviors we believe this is an issue that cannot be ignored.

Please join us in a call to action for all professionals working with adolescents to ensure that all teens in your population are screened with a standardized assessment on their first visit, annually and when presenting at-risk behaviors.  You make a real difference in the lives of teens.

Learn more about the RAAPS screening tool by visiting our website, leave a comment below, or write us an email! Join our cause and increase screening for teens!

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