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Wamkelekile, Welkom
Wamkelekile, Welkom
Alan Flisher: high-risk teenage behaviours
08 March 2016 | Story Natalie Simon.
It was for his work on the epidemiology of high-risk behaviour among adolescents, particularly related to sexual behaviour and substance abuse, and on public mental health in the South African context, that the late Professor Alan Flisher, former Sue Struengmann Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, received this award.
About 70% of mental disorders have an onset before the age of 24, which makes adolescence a key time for prevention and intervention in mental health. Despite this, neuropsychiatric disorders remain neglected in adolescents. Based on World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, up to three-quarters of premature death in adults are a consequence of behaviours that date from childhood or adolescence.
Brain imaging research has shown that the brains of adolescents are wired differently from adults, says Professor Dan Stein, head of psychiatry and mental health at UCT, which might partly explain why this age group is vulnerable to high-risk behaviours. It is for his work on the epidemiology of high-risk behaviour among adolescents, particularly related to sexual behaviour and substance abuse, and on public mental health in the South African context, that the late Professor Alan Flisher, former Sue Struengmann Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, was awarded the 2005 Alan Pifer Award.
Flisher was “our foremost researcher in the area of risk in adolescence,” says Stein. His work included epidemiological studies of behaviour and intervention studies in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in adolescents.
In the field of public mental health, Flisher completed groundbreaking work for the WHO and the South African Department of Health, particularly in the development of standards for mental health services and evidence-based guidelines for mental health services delivery. He was pivotal in growing the field of child and adolescent psychiatry across Africa. He was active in the training of students in the field and led a large multi-country study focused on breaking the cycle of mental ill-health and poverty in Africa.
Flisher, who died of leukemia in 2010, left behind a strong legacy in UCT’s Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, which bears his name.
About 70% of mental disorders have an onset before the age of 24, which makes adolescence a key time for prevention and intervention in mental health. Despite this, neuropsychiatric disorders remain neglected in adolescents. Based on World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, up to three-quarters of premature death in adults are a consequence of behaviours that date from childhood or adolescence.
Brain imaging research has shown that the brains of adolescents are wired differently from adults, says Professor Dan Stein, head of psychiatry and mental health at UCT, which might partly explain why this age group is vulnerable to high-risk behaviours. It is for his work on the epidemiology of high-risk behaviour among adolescents, particularly related to sexual behaviour and substance abuse, and on public mental health in the South African context, that the late Professor Alan Flisher, former Sue Struengmann Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, was awarded the 2005 Alan Pifer Award.
Flisher was “our foremost researcher in the area of risk in adolescence,” says Stein. His work included epidemiological studies of behaviour and intervention studies in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in adolescents.
In the field of public mental health, Flisher completed groundbreaking work for the WHO and the South African Department of Health, particularly in the development of standards for mental health services and evidence-based guidelines for mental health services delivery. He was pivotal in growing the field of child and adolescent psychiatry across Africa. He was active in the training of students in the field and led a large multi-country study focused on breaking the cycle of mental ill-health and poverty in Africa.
Flisher, who died of leukemia in 2010, left behind a strong legacy in UCT’s Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, which bears his name.
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