Why?
Care experienced young people face specific barriers to accessing healthcare services, which can have a detrimental impact upon their health and wellbeing. AYPH wanted to engage a group of care experienced young people, though the support of Coram Voice. One of which would become a peer facilitator, to assist in better understanding young peoples experiences.
What?
- Coram Voice brought together a group of 10 care-experienced young people aged 16-25 from across England, to explore what health inequalities care experienced young people faced.
- The group met online 4 times between January and May 2023.
- AYPH supported one group member to become a peer facilitator. They supported AYPH staff to plan, prep and facilitate each of the sessions.
- The group started session 1 by identifying and prioritizing different barriers to good health care and used the remainder of the sessions to explore topics in-depth.
- The group discussed: mental health, finances, stigma and health literacy as barriers.
- The group created a podcast exploring the different barriers they face to leading healthy lives and accessing health care. Find the podcast here.
- Some of the group spoke at a webinar with one member co-chairing the event. Watch it here.
Impact
- Having a youth facilitator really supported the other young people to feel comfortable in talking about difficult topics and challenging staff about the design and structure of sessions
- The sessions were semi-structured so the group could have control of where the conversations went and which topics were explored
- The group decided on a creative output through a podcast to support the reports and give context to some of the issues
- The work directly contributed to the research published by AYPH, Coram Voice and The Health Foundation
