3-038 - The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults: Highlights from an Institute of Medicine/National Research Council Report

Session Type: Conversation Roundtable

Integrative Statement

Young adults, ages approximately 18 to 26, are at a pivotal time of life that reflects both continuity and discontinuity of adaptation in the life course. Young adults are both similar to and different from adolescents, and their experiences flow out of trajectories from childhood and adolescence. They may seek higher education, launch their work lives, develop new relationships and healthy habits, and pursue other endeavors that help set them on healthy and productive pathways. However, the transition to adulthood also can be a time of increased vulnerability and risk. Young adults are moving out of the services and systems that supported them as children and adolescents, but adult services and systems—for example, the adult health care system, labor market, and justice system—may not be well suited to supporting their needs. This conversation roundtable will take as its launching point the October 2014 Institute of Medicine and National Research Council consensus study report on the health, safety, and well-being of young adults. The report reviews the evidence on this topic and offers recommendations for policy and research. It was prepared by an interdisciplinary committee with expertise in human development, psychology, neuroscience, sociology, demography, public health, health care, behavioral health, social services, justice and law, economics, the private sector, family studies, and media and communication. Panelists will address questions about the report’s major findings and recommendations and discuss with participants the implications for policy and future research. The roundtable will be moderated by Dr. Clare Stroud, the study director.

Sub Unit

• Health, Growth, Injury

Moderator

• Clare Stroud, Institute of Medicine

Panelists

• John E Schulenberg, Univ of Michigan

• Velma McBride Murry, Vanderbilt University

• Claire D. Brindis, University of California, San Francisco

• Mark E. Courtney, University of Chicago