Health reform strives to be patient-centered but often emphasizes institutional and financial well-being at the expense of patient responsiveness. Rhode Island is a pioneer, with innovative youth engagement programs in health care. The Youth Advisory Board of the Adolescent Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Initiative at Brown Family Medicine has brought together adolescents to gather feedback about participants' preferences for their health care and bring that feedback to health care providers. The Adolescent Leadership Council (TALC) of Hasbro Children's Hospital is comprised of adolescents with chronic medical illnesses and serves as an advisory group. The Rhode Island Department of Health's Office of Special Needs offers Dare to Dream, a youth leadership development program, a youth advisory council and a healthy lifestyles program. These youth engagement programs allow youth to help shape the health care system to meet their needs and contribute to youth empowerment in the state. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2016-08.asp, free with no login].
Keywords: Patient-Centered Medical Home; adolescent health transition; patient engagement; positive youth development; special needs.