Your voice matters
Children, young people, parents and carers have valuable experience and knowledge that can help improve Health and Social Care.
We want children, young people and families to have meaningful opportunities to share what matters to them, contribute their experience and help shape the services and support that affect their lives.
This is particularly important for children and young people who may face additional barriers to being heard. Involvement should be inclusive, accessible and appropriate to each person, with clear information about how their views will be used.
How you can get involved
There are opportunities across Health and Social Care for children, young people, parents and carers to contribute.
- Share your views about services or issues that matter to you.
- Take part in a current involvement opportunity or consultation.
- Join a group, project or discussion.
- Help develop or improve information and services.
- Work in partnership with staff and other people with lived experience.
Find current involvement opportunities here at https://engage.hscni.net/get-involved/current-opportunities/
Different ways of being heard
Not every child or young person communicates in the same way, and involvement should not rely only on meetings, written documents or verbal discussion.
Depending on the child or young person, involvement may include pictures, visual tools, creative activities, supported conversation, communication technology, one-to-one engagement or support from a parent, carer or trusted adult.
The approach should fit the child or young person – not expect the child or young person to fit the approach.
For Health and Social Care staff
If your work affects children, young people or families, consider involvement from the beginning rather than after decisions have already been made.
Before starting, think about:
- What are we asking children, young people or families to help influence?
- Whose voices are important to hear, including people who may experience barriers to taking part?
- How can we make the opportunity safe, accessible and appropriate to age, ability and communication needs?
- What support or adjustments may be needed to enable people to participate?
- How will we tell people what happened as a result of their contribution?
Engage provides practical information, tools, guides and training to support
meaningful involvement across Health and Social Care.
Why involvement matters
Meaningful involvement helps Health and Social Care better understand people’s experiences, identify barriers, improve communication and design services that respond to the needs of the people who use them.
For children, young people and families, it also helps ensure that decisions are informed by the people who are most affected by them.
Get involved
If you are a child, young person, parent or carer and would like to contribute, visit Current Opportunities on Engage to see how you can get involved.
If you are a Health and Social Care member of staff planning involvement with children, young people or families, use the tools, guides and learning resources available on Engage to help you plan an inclusive and meaningful approach.
