Huddersfield academic is keynote speaker at conference on adolescent health

University of Huddersfield academic Dr Nicola Gray was a keynote speaker at a European conference on adolescent health.

Dr Gray, Reader in Medicines and Health at the University, spoke on adolescent wellbeing and creating the conditions for good health at the International Association for Adolescent Health (IAAH) event which was held in Denmark recently.

Her speech focused on how we can conceptualise adolescent well-being in a holistic way; how individual health behaviours interact with the socioeconomic, legal and cultural contexts of young people’s lives; and how we can build adolescents’ health literacy skills into our everyday practice, research and activism.

The 23^rd IAAH European Regional Conference in Copenhagen, which took place on 10-11 October during International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW) saw delegates from 23 countries gather under the theme of Adolescent health and well-being: Hope in a time of uncertainty.

This uncertainty referred to ongoing conflict in Europe as well as being a bridge back to the 2022 conference in Athens where young leaders had spoken of their uncertainties in terms of securing meaningful work and their own home.

The conference opened with a video greeting from the Rt Hon Helen Clark, former President of New Zealand, Board Chair of Partnership of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, and Honorary Fellow of IAAH.

She went on to say, quoting the IAHW 2024 theme, that: “Your efforts ensure that the voices of young people are heard, and that is where true change must begin. Together we can build a world where young people can truly thrive, and not just survive.”

Dr Gray, IAAH Vice-President for Europe, said: “The Nordic conference title of hope in a time of uncertainty reflected the mutual support that colleagues could share with each other from different parts of Europe, and the hope that our young people will help us to regain a positive perspective about the state of our region and our world.

“The threats are many and varied, and we have to solve problems together that seem entrenched but that will hopefully improve over their lifetime.”

Dr Gray’s keynote speech was praised by Dr Prerna Banati, who works on adolescent and young adult health at the World Health Organisation, who said: “Thoughtful presentation from Dr Nicola Gray unpacking the adolescent wellbeing framework using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.”

Renowned for her work on adolescent health, Dr Gray is also co-chair holder of the UNESCO Chair for Global Health and Education which is hosted jointly by the University of Huddersfield and the University of Clermont Auvergne in France.

It was also the UNESCO Chair that funded a supplement containing abstracts from the recent IAAH Conference that has been published online.

What is a UNESCO Chair?

A UNESCO Chair is a collaborating centre that produces and shares knowledge to support institutions and professionals in their work, based on the strategies of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

 The Chair relating to Global Health and Education was founded in 2018 by Professor Didier Jourdan, a leading global expert in the field of school health promotion, at the University of Clermont Auvergne in France. The University of Huddersfield and Dr Gray joined in 2022 through her role as the Vice-President for Europe of the IAAH.

Its ambition is to contribute to undertaking research and sharing knowledge, creating a network with the aim of building a global community to promote the development of policies and practices in the field of education and health.