Youth voice in Healthcare
Lessons and resources from the Pears ICS Youth Learning network project
About the project
Pears and NHS England set up a peer learning network to support Integrated Care System (ICS) leads in developing and sharing approaches to youth engagement in health settings. IVAR facilitated this network through a flexible programme of support, allowing members to share and learn from their peers. The network provided spaces for sharing challenges and good practices. It was an opportunity for ICSs to reflect on the NHS’s 10 Year Health Plan, to discuss implications for Youth Social Action within their local area, and to contribute towards the Plan.
This project unfolded during a period of major uncertainty across the NHS, with regions frequently describing themselves as being in a ‘period of limbo’. Long-term planning for youth voice initiatives was challenging due to several factors, including structural reorganisation, stretched budgets, and precarious funding for youth workers.
Despite this, valuable youth voice work continued with dedicated professionals across the regions, who adapted, finding resilient ways to keep youth engagement on the agenda. This page brings together the project’s learning, resources and examples of what helped in practice.
What helps people keep the youth voice moving in uncertain times
- Keep youth voice visible when systems are under pressure. When services are stretched, youth voice can be pushed aside. It must stay visible as a core responsibility, not an optional extra. Youth voice is a statutory and rights-based responsibility.
- Use collaboration as infrastructure, not just as a value. In unstable systems, existing networks matter. Work with VCFSE partners, local authorities, and trusted community organisations that already know how to reach young people.
- Work through champions, connectors and trusted relationships. Senior champions create influence and give this work visibility. Strong connectors help keep people, partnerships, and momentum together. Trusted relationships help the work hold steady as structures change.
- Stay pragmatic, persistent and responsive. Do not wait for perfect conditions. Start with what is possible, respond to change, Focus on quick wins, keep going, and build momentum from what is possible through steady progress.
- Create the conditions for meaningful participation. Meaningful participation needs more than an invitation. Young people need the right space, support, and follow through so their voices shape decisions and lead to action.
- Show the value. In a tight financial climate, the case must be clear. Youth engagement can improve attendance, reduce emergency admissions, and save money.
CYP Diabetes Youth Worker Pilot: Dr. Satish Hulikere successfully made the business case for a permanent youth worker by tracking hard data. He proved that the youth worker improved clinic attendance (reducing “Did Not Attend” rates) and decreased emergency admissions for Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), thereby saving the hospital money.
*Ashwin Blog*
*Blog description, including how it relates to the wider project*
Learning from National Workshops
As part of the project, IVAR held a series of webinars and national workshops with external collaborators that focused on issues and topics we heard from young people and partners across our ICS Learning networks.
National workshop #1: Engaging seldom heard groups and exploring the workforce
Young people across the country are actively shaping health services in significant ways. They’re setting agendas in hospitals, holding leaders accountable, and co-designing digital health tools. We’ve heard from passionate teams across the country who are working with young people to embed and amplify their voices. Yet in many settings, traditional, top-down methods still dominate. The challenge isn’t proving that youth voice is valuable; rather, it is ensuring that these methods don’t remain isolated projects and instead become standard practice.
National workshop #2: Exploring the Lundy Model of participation
With insights from Prof. Laura Lundy on amplifying youth voice, as well as updates on how regions are implementing strategies to maximise regional impact, the aim of this workshop was to strengthen connections among local, regional, and national partners and enable peer learning. The Lundy Model of Youth participation is rooted in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which mandates that children have the right to express their views freely and obligates adults to give those views due weight. This right applies both to decisions affecting the individual child (e.g. treatment options) and to groups of children (i.e.
collective participation, such as co-designing policies): ‘It’s not the gift of adults. It’s the
right of the child.’
Webinar – Engaging under-11s in youth voice: Learning from experts
Even in casual situations and with family members and friends, children need the right encouragement to share their thoughts and feelings.
It’s even more important when we want to design healthcare and other support services that reflect the needs and desires of children and young people. Including children under the age of 11 in meaningful engagement is key to ensuring decisions are led by, and importantly work for, younger children. This work can be incredibly rewarding but we know it takes time, energy and resources to do it well.
Webinar – Shaping the Future: Deep Dive into the National Youth Strategy
What does the new National Youth Strategy mean for young people, and the care systems that support them? IVAR hosted the final webinar in our Youth Engagement National ICS Peer Learning Network, which offered a moment of both reflection and momentum. Our final session brought together colleagues from across healthcare, government and the voluntary sector to explore the newly launched National Youth Strategy and what it means in practice for those of us working to embed meaningful youth engagement locally. Kayleigh Wainwright and Robert Croft of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport gave an overview of the new 10-year cross-government strategy, and focused on how it can provide a framework for local action. Bronte E. of Barnardo’s and Ashwin Sridhar, an NHS Young Researcher, explained the importance of transforming youth voices into youth power, and the need to move from services in which young people are excluded from the conversation, into genuinely collaborative, place-based approaches to the wellbeing of the UK’s young people. Ashwin has also written a blog about Youth Power and the Strategy
View additional content and resources shared by participants of this webinar here.
Resources
Regional Work
The Art of the Possible in London
Participants in this workshop shared a wide range of current practices in youth engagement across London. These practices highlight both established programmes and evolving approaches to meaningful participation. Participants imagined an infrastructure that supports visibility, communication, and learning across London. This included aspirations for shared data and digital platforms to better coordinate and highlight youth voice. One suggestion was for ‘a platform London wide to share Youth voice outputs and examples of good practice,’ while another emphasised the need to ‘leverage technology to create platforms for youth engagement.’
Celebrating youth voice and engagement in North-East and Yorkshire
It is clear that there is a lot of fantastic youth engagement work taking place in North-East
and Yorkshire. For instance, workshop attendees have established youth councils,
advisory groups, toolkits, mentoring opportunities, and employed creative methods of
engagement, such as arts and photography. This workshop focussed on five stories from speakers who are all doing amazing things with youth engagement and voice in health. Presentations focussed on challenges, successes, and the positive impact it has had on children and young people.
Making the ‘business case’ for youth work
25 people from the voluntary sector, health, youth work, education, and local
authorities across the North-West attended the workshop. The workshop explored how
to make the ‘business case’ for youth work, and shared learning from speakers who
have successfully taken their project from short-term pilots into established projects. This workshop focussed on three stories from speakers who all have experience on
making the business case for youth work. Presentations focussed on challenges and
successes or making the case, the positive impact it has had on children and young
people, and key learning that can be taken forward.
If you have any questions about the learning or outcomes of this project, please contact Sonakshi Anand – sonakshi@ivar.org.uk