Addressing Health Needs: Freire's Model for Pregnant Teen Education

This essay addresses the unique mental, psychological, and physical health needs of pregnant teenagers, emphasizing their vulnerability and the importance of providing safety, protection, and mental support. It highlights their affinity for technology and access to online information as strengths in their learning process. The essay proposes applying Freire's empowerment education model, which utilizes dialogue and group action, to help pregnant teenagers address their health issues and develop solutions. It suggests leveraging social media and mobile phone platforms to create supportive groups facilitated by health practitioners, allowing for open and anonymous discussions. The essay concludes that these tools can effectively meet the specific needs of this population by fostering communication and empowerment.

Pregnant Teenagers
Student’s Name
University
Date

Pregnant Teenagers
pregnant teenagers present a special group that has mental, psychological and physical health
needs. This is because during pregnancy, the teenagers are mentally and psychologically
confused with the pregnancy while at the same time are not sure about reproductive health and
how to take care of themselves during pregnancy1 (WHO, 2018). the learning needs of this group
thus need to focus on safety, protection, and mental support. The good thing is that this group is
information sensitive due to their ability to grow in a technology world. Thus this group has
greater access to online information which presents a strength in their ability to get hold of
information.
Application of Frieiere’s empowerment education model to address education priorities
Teenagers present a different education challenge as opposed to the rest. Teenagers require
freedom and use modern technology platforms to communicate which means that the best way
for obtaining information from them is through communication and social media tools2. Use
instant messaging and social media tools can be easy to obtain information from this group. The
Freiere’s model of education is based on empowerment education that seeks to develop the
abilities of people to deal with the issues that they face in the society. This means that dialogue
and group action can be used to empower pregnant teenagers to address the health issues that
affect them and develop appropriate solution3. Since this group is mostly addicted to social
media, mobile phone platforms can be used to bring them together through groups that they
engage with each other with the help of a health practitioner who responds to the issues that they
discuss. Social media platforms are the best since they allow people to even hide their identity
1 WHO, 2018. Adolescents: health risks and solutions
2 Coleman, J., 2001. Meeting the health needs of young people. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, p. 532
3 Wiggins, N., 2012. Popular education for health empowerment and community empowerment: a review of the literature. Health Promotion
International, p. 359

and sometimes raise issues that they could not have done in open settings. Therefore, the tools
will work well in meeting the needs of the teenagers.

Bibliography
Coleman, J., 2001. Meeting the health needs of young people. Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health, 55(8), pp. 532-533.
WHO, 2018. Adolescents: health risks and solutions. [Online]
Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescents-health-risks-and-
solutions
[Accessed 16 December 2018].
Wiggins, N., 2012. Popular education for health empowerment and community empowerment: a
review of the literature. Health Promotion International, 27(3), pp. 356-371.