Jeremy Sachs and Emma Rigby, Association for Young People’s Health
How do young people feel about the way their asthma is managed? What kind of information works best for them and what services and support do they prefer? The Young People’s Health Partnership (YPHP), working with the Race Equality Foundation, the Friends, Families and Travellers charity and RCPCH &Us are delighted to launch a podcast sharing key messages from our work with young people and families.
Asthma has a disproportionate effect on young people living in deprived areas and those from ethnic minority groups. Working with the NHS, the YPHP led a partnership of voluntary sector organisations to increase insight into the experiences of young people with chronic asthma and their families. The work culminated in two reports published earlier this year and an accompanying podcast which we are delighted to launch at the start of #AskAboutAsthma week.
In our Asthma podcast, Jeremy Sachs chats to a young person who was part of the project and a team member from the Race Equality Foundation. Their reflections really highlight the themes from our engagement work through their personal experiences. They share why they feel engagement with different communities is important, what they value in their asthma care and their messages for other young people who may be wondering how to get started managing their asthma.
The key recommendations from the engagement report listed below are also reflected and provide a useful set of steps for those planning action in this area.
Young people recommend the following:
- Access to trusted information in formats that work for young people and using non-clinical language
- Youth friendly services and care in non-clinical settings that young people can access easily with the opportunity to build relationships with key staff
- Anti-prejudice training for healthcare staff as the general prejudice that some groups face impacts their asthma care
- Myth busting in communities to help support the sharing of accurate information and avoid delayed diagnosis
- Broader education in the community so that teachers, youth workers, sports coaches and wider society better understand the impact of asthma and stigma is reduced as a result.
The full report can be found here.
These pieces of work were priorities of the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise Health and Wellbeing Alliance. The project was designed to directly inform the work of the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme in NHS England and NHS Improvement.
For further information, email info@youngpeopleshealth.org.uk.
Thanks to Tracey Bignall and the Race Equality Foundation for featuring on the podcast