1281 ‘The most important person to my health is ME’ Empowering Young People who are unaccompanied and seeking asylum through initial health assessments: Results of a questionnaire and focus group

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood 2022-08, Vol.107 (Suppl 2), p.A86-A87
• Main Authors: Sunderland, Emma, Benzaken, Tami, Ward, Allison, Ringen, Ane Lund
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: British Association for Community Child Health; Child psychology; Communication Skills; Focus groups; Health services; Questionnaires; Refugees; Teenagers; Young Adults
• ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2022-rcpch.138

Aims1. To gather the views of unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people on their experiences of health services within one London borough, focussing on the statutory initial health assessment.2. To use these views to inform service development work both within health services and with the wider network of professionals caring for these young people.MethodsA questionnaire was sent to young people who attended for health assessments to gather their views. They were then invited to participate in a focus group to develop a deeper understanding of their experiences and views, facilitated by junior doctors not currently working in the team. Three activities were used to support the discussions.1. Priorities for health – young people were provided with photographs representing aspects of health and asked to choose the 5 they felt represented the most important aspects of health to them.2. Journey mapping – young people were asked focussed questions on their experiences before, during and after their initial health assessments.3. The ideal health assessment – young people were given free reign to design a health assessment that they would recommend to other young people arriving in the UK.The discussion was recorded, with informed consent, and contemporaneous notes were taken during the session. The session was conducted mainly in English with a French interpreter on the phone to support one of the French speaking participantsThe young people were compensated for their time with vouchers.Results11 young people completed the questionnaire. 5 young people participated in the focus group. A number themes arose including: the benefits of exercise for health, wellbeing and reducing isolation; the impact of communication difficulties and navigating independence.ConclusionThis work has highlighted how insightful the perspectives of young people can be when time is taken to listen to their views. We have been able to share their views with key stakeholders and made a number of recommendations, such as collating an accessible list of exercise opportunities locally and prioritising this within health plans, providing a visual care pathway with information translated into key languages and developing a training package for support workers. The young people who participated were keen to become more involved in service development in the future and we are currently considering the feasibility of a peer support program.