Young People Focus Group Report: A Happier and Healthier Berkshire

Healthwatch Reading spoke with 10 young people between 17 and 18 years from a local school as part of their personal, social health and economic education lesson (PHSE)

The young people anonymously voted from a list of 11 priorities proposed by public health officials for the new strategy. They ended up with 4 priorities because the last two gained the same number of votes. Their fourth priority was of their own choosing, not one of the original 11, but one that most young people thought was important, these were:

1. Good mental health and wellbeing for all children and young people.
2. Build strong, socially connected communities.
3. To stop unfair differences in health between different groups of people.
4. Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 before and after we get vaccinated.

Public health officials will consider the findings of a range of focus groups being held in Reading, Wokingham and West Berkshire as well as results of a wider public survey, before finalising the strategy to apply across the three areas.