Young People’s Participation in Health Services – Case Study

Teenage Health Demonstration Sites – Hackney

Case Study – ‘Voices’ Youth Participation Group, Hackney

This case study features the THDS site in Hackney and explores the journey The City and Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) in London has taken in establishing and enabling young people’s participation in health services.

Prior to the THDS programme the PCT recruited a group of young people from across Hackney to work with Cityzen, a local young people’s social enterprise organisation. Cityzen facilitated a peer-led research project which examined young people’s access to health services and explored what they wanted from a physical service location which partner organisations were exploring as an integrated youth provision. The anticipated new building did not materialise but the young people’s contributions were incorporated into the refurbishment plans for the existing building, ‘The House’, which is the hub for Hackney’s 11-19 health service, and which has subsequently been awarded the Department of Health You’re Welcome: quality criteria quality mark. The group were also involved in the development of the initial branding of ‘The House’.

The research also highlighted the need for a youth health website and initial design concepts and features for the site, CHYPS Plus on line, were produced and evaluated by the group. The young people in the steering group were invited to undertake media training and worked to develop the design of the website and negotiated their own space and links to social networking sites.

The PCT appointed a Youth Participation Coordinator in October 2008, to facilitate and support the development of the group - now known as CHYPS Plus ‘Voices’. Initial work included supporting the group in helping to plan a launch event for the CHYPS Plus website. Voices members also vetted posters and chose prizes for a competition linked to the launch.

Members then planned a series of events to promote Hackney’s young people friendly health services to young men and young women’s groups and students from Hackney schools.
The group built on these experiences establishing a brief to examine the whole of the THDS provision. With the support of the Participation Worker, Voices members advised and consulted with the PCT’s adult steering group and staff in what direction to take services for children and young people. Voices members were also involved in recruitment processes for clinical staff, and service evaluation through mystery shopping,

‘Voices’ - Now and the future

The Voices group currently consists of a core group of nine young people who have had the opportunity to train in presentation skills, planning, youth legislation, equal opportunities and child protection. Voices is currently looking at widening the participation agenda in Hackney, designing a work plan that involves establishing ‘satellite’ Voices groups. The aim is to reach the 30 per cent most vulnerable young people and will be based wherever groups of young people meet in the borough to include special schools, youth offending teams, pupil referral units, youth councils etc. Peer training, supported by the Youth Participation Worker, will be provided by Voices members to the satellite groups and it is hoped this will enable Voices to be a sustainable project ,attracting new members from these local networks – in effect by ‘growing your own’ .

The Voices group members’ media training will also support their ownership of their ongoing content on the CHYPS plus website, with the opportunity to develop more interactive content through projects working with schools and other youth groups.


The Voices group has also discussed establishing links with local youth service Participation Workers with a view to establishing a wider combined health approach for young people. The group is also developing a further mystery shopper assessment exercise which will help inform the local implementation of the DH ‘You’re Welcome quality criteria’. It is planned that ten youth settings will be assessed during 2010.

Voices group are also currently negotiating with Hackney’s Youth Parliament to have a Youth Representative for Health.

Lessons learnt


The group are supported by senior management at the PCT who don’t recognise the group simply as users, but as directing services for young people’s health in Hackney and The City of London.

Establishing the Voices group initially involved the PCT working with young people in a way it hadn’t done previously. One of the major lessons learnt was the need for the Participation Coordinator post. The values, energy and experience that this position has brought has enabled the group to develop into an established and recognised group of young people - who have a real voice and influence in the provision and design of health services in their local area. Other lessons learnt included the need to be explicit about the reward or remuneration for young people’s contributions, recognising the impact of study and exams on ongoing involvement, defining and being explicit about the different levels of involvement and ways that young people can get involved – e.g. mailing list members, helpers, school champion members board members;

Project contact details:
City and Hackney PCT

The House

36 Lower Clapton Rd.

Hackney
E5 OPD

Contact - Mark Scott, Service Manager

Email -

Tel - 0208 919 5040

CHYPSplus website - www.chypsplus.nhs.uk

Voices group web pages - www.chypsplus.nhs.uk/about-voices


Further reading
Teenage Health Demonstration Sites- Evaluation Report
Evaluation of the Teenage Health Demonstration Sites Programme: Final Report: Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London (2009). Available at www.ioe.ac.uk

You’re Welcome
Further information on the Department of Health ‘You’re Welcome: Quality criteria for making health services young people friendly’ is available at www.dh.gov.uk