National Youth Agency Seminar - Report and Resources
Developing Young People’s Voice and Influence in Health Services
2 February 2010, Leicester
The seminar which attracted 30 delegates, speakers and young people was aimed at colleagues in health organisations and/or their youth service partners with a strategic role in young people’s participation.
The aim of the seminar was to enable delegates attending to:
- Understand better the context and drivers for an enhanced focus on young people’s engagement in a variety of health settings
- Learn from examples of good practice about key features of this work including the ‘You’re Welcome’ quality criteria
- Understand the NYA’s participation offer and how the use of the Hear by Right (HBR)framework can contribute to this work, and how in return delegates can inform the NYA work in this area
- Meet and network with like minded colleagues
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Leave the training with an action plan to further improve the engagement of young people in health settings
Speakers:
Richard McKie - National Programme Manager, National Youth Agency
National Programme Manager Richard McKie facilitated the event. His initial presentation examined the context and drivers for young people’s voice and influence work.
Siobhan Lloyd - Participation Officer, Dudley Youth Service
Hayley Jennings - Young People Stop Smoking Adviser, Dudley PCT
Joe Dutton and George Heeley – You’re Welcome Young Inspectors, Dudley
The presentation from Dudley explored how the youth service, the Primary Care Trust and young people are working together to assess the quality and standards of young people’s health services and provision. It initially examined the area’s C-Card Scheme, how the partnership between Dudley Youth Service and NHS Dudley is developing a healthy youth work standards framework (building on NYA’s Good Practice Guidelines for Health Youth Work) and smoking cessation work. The latter offers opportunities for youth workers to train as smoking cessation workers and for young people to train as decision makers through the Peer Support Programme and be involved in the related youth advocacy project – ‘Kick Ash’
Initial work towards the You’re Welcome quality criteria has been undertaken in Dudley. This has included mapping similarities between NYA’s HBR framework and You’re Welcome, sessions with GP practices and sexual health services, training for young people as young inspectors, developing a health service pledge based on You’re Welcome and identifying one particular area of You’re Welcome to initially develop, as part of a ‘step-by-step’ approach.
Joe and George, two You’re Welcome Young Inspectors talked about their experiences, how they initially became involved and the process of developing the work. The next steps for the young Inspectors in Dudley will be to roll out the assessment of services across the area linked to the You’re Welcome: quality criteria.
+ Handouts:
Dudley Handout 1 - Initial Mapping of Hear by Right and Your Welcome Standards
Dudley Handout 2 - Young Inspector Training – Day 1 Trainer Notes
Dudley Handout 3 - Giving Young People a Voice
Kate O'Farrell - Involving Young People Co-ordinator, Connexions Leicestershire
Mark Roberts - Service Development Manager, Leicestershire County and Rutland Community Health Services (LCRCHS)
This presentation explored LCRCHS’s organisational approach to involving young people using the HBR framework as part of this process - working in partnership with Connexions Leicestershire and young people. Mark Roberts and Kate O’Farrell described the journey that LCRCHS has experienced to date and highlighted lessons learnt. LCRCHS future plans include moving from an ‘emerging’ to ‘established’ organisation (based on the HBR Framework). Among other future plans the organisation is also exploring the establishment of a young people’s network, involving young people in an audit of services.
Examples of LCRCHS HBR maps and plans evidencing young people’s participation are available on the Hear by Right website >>
Catherine Alexander – You’re Welcome Lead, Government Office North West
Catherine is based at Government Office in the North West region and leads on You’re Welcome. the Department of Health’s (DH) quality criteria for making health services young people friendly, designed through consultation with young people. DH’s vision is that by 2020, all health services that are regularly used by young people - including those based in education settings - meet the You’re Welcome quality criteria.
Catherine gave an overview of the vision and ambitions of this work and its links to Healthy Child Programmes, presented You’re Welcome’s 10 standards, the processes that organisations should follow and gave examples of the ways young people can be involved and the benefits that this can create.
Jackie O’Brien – Project Officer, National Youth Agency
Hear by Right Website and Resources – Overview
Jackie gave delegates a tour of the HbR website - described as a depository to link good practice to HBR’s indicators. Jackie explored the site highlighting the standards and indicators noting resources that organisations have supplied to demonstrate practice in action.
Also introduced to the group were the website’s news section, the local network map (essentially the HBR community) and templates for HBR Mapping and Planning process and What’s Changed/What’s Changing case studies.
The final sessions of the day further explored developing young people’s voice and influence in health services. Delegates were given the opportunity to work together to map seven of the You’re Welcome standards to the Hear by Right standards.
Next Steps
The National Youth Agency will build on the work done by delegates to re-enforce the mutually supportive links between Hear by Right and You’re Welcome by working with the Department of Health to clarify and make explicit how the two approaches can help ensure ‘young people friendly’ services.
For further information email Richard McKie.
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