Young Listeners Project: Bringing positive change to young people’s health and care services in Dorset
Between January and May 2021, we recruited and trained a group of 11 volunteer Young Listeners from across Dorset, aged 16 to 23. They are either at school, university or working, and they all have an interest in or experience of health and social care services in Dorset. The Young Listeners designed and a peer-to-peer engagement project to find out what it is like to be a young person using health and social care services in Dorset. In July and July 2021, they met and 'listened' to 70 young people via video link, phone or face-to-face, and recorded their feedback. They also spoke with the Chatterbox youth disability group who fed back their findings from talking about health and social care services with 46 young people with disabilities.
Recommendations
- Improve communication and collaboration between services to avoid needless repetition.
- Make sure services and schools follow up on promises and actions that have been discussed.
- Provide more useful information about health and social care issues and the services and support available for young people, and promote this more widely, including in schools.
- Communicate better with young people, including using clear and appropriate language when talking or providing information.
- Listen to young people, don’t ignore or dismiss them.
- Personalise services by focusing on the individual – speak to the young person rather than their parent, recognise diversity of need and the barriers that young people face when accessing care.
- Train health and care staff and teachers to help them understand, empathise, and communicate better with young people, including those with diverse needs such autism and young carers.
- Make more funding available so that services can expand, reduce waiting times, and give longer appointments.
Read our report
If you would like this report in a different format, email enquiries@healthwatchdorset.co.uk or call 0300 111 0102.
