Young Voices, Your Story, Your Health

Healthwatch Rochdale developed the Young Voices, Your Story, Your Health project to improve the way it engages with children and young people and to ensure their experiences of health and social care services are heard and used to influence service improvement. The project was created in response to relatively low levels of feedback from young people despite previous engagement activity.

The project aimed to identify barriers to engagement, collect feedback from young people about health and social care services, analyse emerging trends, and use this information to inform local providers and commissioners. Healthwatch also planned to involve young people in discussions with service providers through a larger event scheduled for 2016. 

As part of a pilot programme, Healthwatch Rochdale worked with 59 students at Hopwood Hall College in June 2015. The engagement sessions used interactive methods including a Healthwatch video, quizzes about health and care services, discussion cards, “chatterboxes”, and feedback leaflets. These activities were designed to encourage open conversations, 

The pilot produced a significant increase in feedback, with 89% of participants providing comments on their experiences. The approach also increased the number of young people signing up to Healthwatch’s mailing list, enabling ongoing engagement through surveys and consultations. 

Findings from the pilot showed that most participants were satisfied with the care they had received, with the majority reporting that they were either quite happy or very happy with services. Young people reported experiences with a wide range of services, including GPs, dentists, hospitals, pharmacies, nurses, sexual health services, CAMHS, social workers and youth services. 

The feedback highlighted both positive and negative experiences. Concerns included poor communication, having to repeat information to multiple doctors, feeling that GPs did not listen, rude behaviour from staff, and appointment changes that were not communicated. Positive examples included supportive counselling services, healthcare professionals who listened and explained treatments well, helpful A&E staff, and dentists who showed understanding of patients’ anxieties. 

Healthwatch Rochdale also held workshops with organisations working with young people to raise awareness of the project and encourage collaboration. Feedback from these workshops was positive, with 81% of participants stating that their organisation would be likely or very likely to work with Healthwatch Rochdale on engagement activities. Stakeholders emphasised the importance of interactive approaches when working with young people. 

Following the pilot, Healthwatch planned to expand the project across the borough, adapt its resources for younger children and young people with disabilities, and continue gathering feedback through schools, colleges and community organisations. The evidence collected would be used to identify trends and shape a Young Voices, Your Story, Your Health event in 2016, bringing together young people and health and social care professionals to discuss issues and co-produce improvements to services.

Overall, the report concludes that the interactive engagement model was successful in increasing participation and feedback from young people and provides a strong foundation for ensuring that their views influence the planning and delivery of local health and social care services.