“Our Unified Voice to Implement Change and Advance the View of Young Carers and Young Adult Carers.” An Appreciative Evaluation of the Impact of a National Young Carer Health Champions Programme

Figures & data

Table

Population	Young Carers and Young Adult Carers aged 16–24 who were nominated as service-user representatives by young carer support services across the regions of England.
Exposure	Participation in the year-long NHS England Young Carer Health Champions programme, with ongoing support from local services for young carers and young adult carers.
Outcome(s)	Evidence of positive impact on the personal development of the Young Carer Health Champion in terms of self-confidence, health literacy and health behaviors and self-advocacy. Young Carer Health Champions are empowered to champion the collective voice of young carers and young adult carers and implement ideas for service development in their local communities. Insights gained through the collective voice of Young Carer Health Champions inform future development of the national programme and local services across the regions of England.

Figure 1. Prompts Used for the Focus Group to elicit individual and collective responses of the Young carer Health Champions.

Table 1. The personal impact of becoming a Young Carer Health Champion.

Peer support and developing networks	Developing into a peer support network; messaging each other privately or as a group through Instagram; Twitter and WhatsApp. Overcoming fears and anxiety; learning to connect with other young people in a similar situation, becoming more social and making new friends. “I wanted to be here – everyone was friendly approachable.”
(b) Positive new experiences and developing self-confidence	Ability to try new things including “increased confidence in travelling distances on my own.” Having a good experience; not being pressured and having opportunity to be able to explore your own interests, for example using creative and social media to develop an awareness campaign. Consulting, traveling and seeing examples of good practice; “Going to meetings I would never have got to go to.”

Table 2. Take – away learning points and next steps in contributing to the development of services.

Finding a voice and feeling empowered

Feeling empowered; becoming a voice for others nationally and turning ideas into ways of supporting people across England; “Learning you have a voice that is valid (you are screwed without a voice).”

(b) Becoming a change agent – supporting and helping others

Becoming a Mentor and providing advice and guidance for new Young Carer Health Champions. Being part of a process of sustained change; having the will to change things and situations; bringing back learning locally; developing strategies for improvement in local services. Being able to work together to make changes across the country; influencing NHS Leaders and government ministers by championing young carers concerns when introduced to them at an event.