Who is the RCPCH Engagement Academy?
We are leaders in embedding patient perspectives in everything we do.
Our team includes children, young people, young adults and family experts-by-experience with staff who have backgrounds in lived experience, clinical expertise, health services, education, youth & community work.
We work with ages 0-25 years old directly through RCPCH &Us, the children, young people and family network for RCPCH, as well as with parents, carers, families, advocates and wider community members.
We can support you in engagement planning, age-appropriate projects, training or development programmes on topics from long term conditions, service evaluation and transition to adult care.
- Video from a young person: "My mind is like a prison"
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An RCPCH &Us volunteer shares her spoken word about the impact of physical health on mental health
Why patient and public involvement (PPI)?
Children and young people should have the best health care possible. They are a quarter of the UK population and 100% of our future.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, they have the right to influence decisions affecting their care and to be supported to be healthy, happy and well.
We effectively and meaningfully engage with children, young people and young adults aged 0-25 to support these rights.
PPI supports your statutory duty to involve people and communities in:
- the planning of services
- the development and consideration of proposals for changes which, if implemented, would have an impact on the manner or range of services, and
- decisions which, when implemented, would have such an impact.
What are the benefits of PPI?
- Improved health outcomes
- Value for money
- Better decision-making
- Increased health literacy
- Skills for life
- Increased self-esteem and confidence
- Improved quality
- Accountability and transparency
- Meeting legal duties
- Addressing health inequalities
How we can help
By accessing support, coaching, courses or commissioning the RCPCH Engagement Academy, we can:
- Support your public involvement legal duties within Working in Partnership with People and Communities (2022)
- Support your ICB annual reporting, where NHS commissioning organisations have a legal duty under section 14Z45 of the NHS Act 2006 to ‘make arrangements’ to secure that individuals to whom services are being or may be provided and their carers/representatives are involved when commissioning services for NHS patients
- Provide information, advice and guidance on patient and public engagement to support regulatory visits and inspections
- Provide insights to support Core20PLUS5 programmes to reduce health inequalities
- Increase accessibility and inclusion of 0-25 year olds within health services engagement under the Health and Care Act 2022 Triple Aim Duty
Examples of our consultancy services
- Engagement with children, young people, young adults and families
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- Capturing insights, voices and views through a range of different consultation methods
- One off events, taster sessions, creative problem solving group activities
- Delivering ongoing engagement projects online, in person or as hybrid sessions
- Opportunities for children, young people and young adults to gain accreditations for their engagement
Check out our children, young people and family led projects on what matters to children and young people for the 10-year plan (Change NHS), asthma, epilepsy, COVID-19 and hidden health experiences.
- Training for staff and volunteers
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A range of bespoke and ready to go training programmes that can be delivered in groups of 10-100 staff or volunteers, looking at the elements needed to work with people and communities within health services, settings and systems.
Training can be tailored to places, systems, boards, partnerships or offered to units and neighbourhoods as part of a quality improvement programme. Example topics that have been delivered in the past include:
- Engaging Children and Young People
The full day in person training course will be a mix of theory and practical guidance on how to do engagement with children and young people from different ages, backgrounds, stages and experiences. The course will support you to feel confident in engagement planning, share different types of engagement approaches and test out using them practically as well as looking at how to apply legal frameworks to engagement activities with children and young people. We’ll share resources and tips, and there will be plenty of opportunities for interactive learning. Full day course in person- delivered by the RCPCH Children and Young People's Engagement Team. - Talk, Trust, Treat: Getting Adolescent and Young Adults Health Right
During this two session course, you'll gain a greater understanding of the needs and barriers to care for adolescents and young adults. The course will provide a space to explore how you develop trust, manage risk and support young people’s rights within your service and individual practice. This course is led by Association for Young People’s health and is co-designed and co-delivered with young people with lived experience of health services and long term health conditions. This course is comprised of two online sessions and is delivered by the Association of Young People's Health. - Safer Working Practices for Engagement
This course will provide the foundations for creating safe engagement activities, touching on consent, risk assessments, staff ratios and expertise, wellbeing assessments, information governance and how to create a meaningful and appropriate, rights based engagement space. The session will include tips from engagement experts, children, young people and links to relevant legislation, resource hubs and further guidance. Half day course online - delivered by the RCPCH Children and Young People's Engagement Team. - Strategic Planning for Engagement
You'll be taken through how to plan for engagement looking at vision and values for engagement, exploring the context, how you develop your offer to deliver and evaluate. We'll take you through the motivators for attendees, how to recruit participants and meet their needs and yours, working through opportunities and challenges together. The course will include a examples from engagement activities with application to your engagement intentions. Full day online / in person - delivered by the RCPCH Children and Young People's Engagement Team. - Introduction to Children's Rights
We will explore the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child in the context of engagement in improving child health services, looking at what Article 12 (voice) and Article 24 (health) and their associated general comments, alongside emerging areas such as digital rights, the climate crisis and the interplay between rights. The course will link to best practice from the Children's Commissioners and UNICEF, providing links to further your learning and development. Half day online -delivered by the RCPCH Children and Young People's Engagement Team. - Addressing health inequalities amongst young people
Develop your understanding of health inequalities and how they are experienced by young people aged 10-25. This course will draw on the latest data and young people’s experiences to provide you with expert knowledge on health inequalities. Delivered by the Association of Young People's Health.
Engaging adolescents and young adults in your health research – ethical practice in action
Are you leading research about young people’s health and keen to involve young people in your work but faced with some tricky dilemmas? Join our course to learn more about taking an ethical practice in participation and engagement work with young people. This course is comprised of two online sessions and is delivered by the Association of Young People's Health. - Group facilitation for youth engagement
Do you want to sharpen up your workshop facilitation skills? Would you like to support the young people you work with to gain confidence in facilitation? This two day course allows you to understand and practice the components in designing and delivering a safe, fun and creative workshop for young people and / or the professionals that work with them. This course is a 2 day in person course, delivered by the Association of Young People's Health. - Youth Mental Health First Aid
This online course trains you as a Youth Mental Health First Aider (MHFAider®), giving you an in-depth understanding of young people’s mental health and factors that affect wellbeing and the ability to support a young person with a long term mental health issue or disability to thrive. This course is a 2 day in person course or can be delivered in 4 sessions online, delivered by the Association of Young People's Health.
Click through to see examples of the impact of our training with Epilepsy and Diabetes units.
- Engaging Children and Young People
- Development for staff or volunteers
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- Access to our new Engagement Standards and Engagement Quality Assurance Programme
- Information, advice and guidance on engagement
- 1:1 or group coaching and mentoring
- Opportunities to shadow or access peer support when delivering your own engagement activities
Sign up to the Engagement Collaborative newsletter for workers or watch young people's tips for engagement.
Hear from our volunteers
To me, RCPCH &Us is a fantastic organisation which has given me opportunities to share my views and opinions and inspired me to participate in projects. I feel valued as an individual and as a volunteer
Listen to our volunteers' RCPCH &Us Podcasts, with episodes on engagement, climate change and living with health conditions.