Working with young people. Implications for research and programming

Accessing young people's views and perspectives is central to the design of programmes and interventions to promote adolescent health. Yet all too often, efforts to explore young people's health-related knowledge, attitudes and practices have been influenced by adult perceptions of what young people should, or might, think and do. This paper argues for an alternative approach rooted in the provisionality and contextuality of young people's life experiences. It highlights the usefulness of different types of qualitative enquiry in accessing young people's views and perspectives, and the value of more interpretative styles of adolescent health research.