33. Aishah Farooq - children and young people need a voice too!

Wild Card - Whose Shoes?

Today, we are talking about health care and support for children and young people, so of course it is vital to hear from that age group. I‘m delighted to welcome Aishah Farooq, a young person who is using her lived experience of healthcare services to bring change at national level.
Aishah talks about her journey to become a national advocate for children and young people, and why this matters.

Aishah is also a student at the University of Bristol … where I studied many years ago!

I spotted Aishah and connected with her through the fabulous work she is doing, working with the NHS in many capacities around listening to children and young people and finding out what matters to them.

Aishah was recently appointed as a board member on the children and young people transformation programme at NHS England.

Lemon lightbulbs 🍋💡🍋

• If we are talking about services for children and young people, we need to hear from children and young people! Coproduction matters!
• There are tools to help - eg The 15 steps challenge … and Whose Shoes!
• Young people’s needs are different
• Don’t be tokenistic. Listen to children and young people’s ideas and suggestions first - before you open the floor to others
• Engaging with children and young people in a meaningful way, like everyone else, shapes how they feel about staying involved.
• Children and young people find it very rewarding to see their suggestions for healthcare improvements being valued and implemented and to feel that they are helping young people of the future
• It is powerful to hear directly from young people - you feel you want to change things -eg health inequalities
• It is exciting to work alongside passionate people. They inspire you to believe that your contribution is valuable and to get more involved
• It is very fortunate to meet inspirational people early in your career! They listen, believe in you, and inspire you to take the next steps
• Children and young people make up one third of the population – their voices should not be ‘seldom heard. They bring a different perspective.
• When clinicians say, “I never considered that before” …that is a proper lemon lightbulb moment. It will change their practice!
• Truly listen to children and young people. Even if you can’t have a bouncy castle in every outpatient department, they will have ideas and suggestions you have never thought of!
• Many examples of personalising care for children. are very simple and just take imagination, rather than money.
• Good to see the key themes and ideas of the podcast series weaving together.
• The National Asthma Care Bundle. What it is and why it will make a difference.
• Schools need good training to support children with asthma.and other long-term conditions

Resources

NICE guideline - babies, children and young people

National bundle of care for children and young people with asthma

Good luck in all you do, Aishah. We look forward to seeing you go from strength to strength, shouting from the rooftops, advocating for children and young people! You said this was your first ever podcast – I am sure it will be the first of many!

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Chapters

1. 33. Aishah Farooq - children and young people need a voice too! (00:00:00)

2. If we are talking about services for children and young people, we need to hear from children and young people! (00:00:58)

3. Aishah talks about her journey to become a national advocate for children and young people, and why this matters (00:02:30)

4. The 15 steps challenge (00:04:00)

5. Young people’s needs are different (00:04:40)

6. It is so rewarding to see young people’s suggestions for healthcare improvements being implemented (00:05:48)

7. Aishah joined the NICE guideline for babies’, children and young people’s experiences of healthcare. Young people were kept at the front of the discussions. NOT tokenistic. (00:06:50)

8. … and then the national NHS England Youth Forum (00:09:00)

9. Aishah has led on a healthcare inequalities project, looking at the social determinants of health care. (00:09:25)

10. The data was incredibly rich and powerful. You feel you really want to change things when you hear directly from young people. (00:10:10)

11. The report is being actively listened to by the Office of Health and Improvements and Disparities, helping shape national policy (00:10:56)

12. Aishah is now a board member for the children and young peoples transformation programme - it is exciting to work alongside inspirational people. (00:10:57)

13. It’s important for children and young people to see that something has actually come out of their contribution, that they are helping children and young people in the future (00:11:42)

14. Shoutouts for Sarah-Jane Marsh and Kath Evans! CYP Extraordinaire! (00:12:38)

15. Kath definitely needs to be a podcast guest! (00:15:00)

16. It is very fortunate to meet inspirational people early in your career! They listen, believe in you, and inspire you to take the next step. (00:16:01)

17. A clinician encouraged Aisha to join Coeliac UK as a trustee. (00:17:02)

18. Children and young people make up one third of the population – their voices should not be ‘seldom heard. They bring a different perspective. (00:17:32)

19. Bob Klaber is on our stalking list! He talks about the curiosity of children – the 19 Whys! They see things differently! (00:18:38)

20. When clinicians say, “I never considered that before” …that is a proper lemon lightbulb moment. It will change their practice! (00:20:00)

21. The importance of truly listening to children and young people. . And even if you can’t have a bouncy castle in every outpatient department, they will have a lot of ideas and suggestions you have never thought of! (00:20:03)

22. Give children and young people the rains. Listen to their ideas first and then open the floor to others. (00:20:03)

23. Give children the reins – listen to their ideas first and then open the floor to others (00:22:22)

24. Engaging with children and young people in a meaningful way, like everyone else, shapes how they feel about staying involved. They need to know that their contribution was valued and made a difference. (00:24:22)

25. Some examples of personalising care for children, including an Emergency Department passport. Some are very simple and just take imagination rather than money. (00:25:48)

26. Interesting to see the different episodes weaving together. A similar patient passport was developed by Angela Cornwall in the context of rare conditions. (00:30:16)

27. The National Asthma Care Bundle. What it is and why it will make a difference. (00:33:18)

28. The role of schools in supporting children with asthma. (00:34:59)

29. We will hear a lot more from Aishah, shouting from the rooftops about advocating for children and young people! (00:35:01)