Study to give voice to seldom heard youth groups

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Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust is working with local partners to conduct a study aimed at improving health services for seldom heard youth groups in the borough.

By nature, seldom heard groups often have poor health outcomes and have had difficulty in influencing service provision, but the PCT wants this to change and has agreed with partner organisations to focus the study on seldom heard young people. The study is to help determine their experiences, views and expectations of health care services in the Rochdale Borough.

The outcomes of the study will provide qualitative and quantitative evidence of the views of young people. The evidence will be used to influence service provision and commissioning as well as future communications and engagement strategies.

The University of Salford is undertaking the study and their previous experience of working with the PCT with the evaluation of the Healthy Futures Consultation exercise and the evaluation of Rochdale Partnership for Older People Project means they have a good knowledge of the local community and the local issues.

The research team meet every other month and are currently setting up a Young People’s Advisory Group. They aim to launch an online youth forum soon.

If you have any youth group contacts who you think should be getting involved in the health and wellbeing study or if you want to be involved in the advisory group please contact:

Dr Tracey Williamson

Research Fellow (Older People/User Involvement) Salford Centre for Nursing, Midwifery & Collaborative Research University of Salford

Room C715 Allerton Building Frederick Road Salford M6 9PU

T.Williamson@salford.ac.uk

Telephone: 0161 295 6424