Encouraging open discussions with young people who have type 1 diabetes
Listen to Act is currently working with St Mary’s Hospital staff to build relationships with young people who have type 1 diabetes and use their services.
Project status: Our 9-month engagement programme will explore what young people need to boost their service experience and general wellbeing.
In partnership with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Diabetes UK.
Listen to Act was commissioned to support the Children and Young People’s Diabetes Care Team at St Mary’s Hospital to establish and maintain contact with up to 15 of 18 young people who are part of 150 young people who are within the hospital’s care, but are proving to be hard to reach.
Our proposal involved creating a peer support group that would offer a safe space for the young people to share and learn from each other and to create a set of recommendations for the service’s staff to adapt the service in line with the young people’s interests and needs.
The peer support group also serves as a vehicle to provide support and guidance to the young people who are not part of the group.
Throughout the process we have been seeking expert counsel from Diabetes UK and working closely with a volunteer with lived experience.
What we have achieved so far
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We held one-to-one conversations with 12 of the 18 young people to build trust and rapport, and to generate an initial steer on their experience of the service and what would make it better for them.
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This peer support group workshop focused on creating familiarity between the young people. We worked together on building their shared guiding principles as the first step in creating a sustainable peer support group.
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This workshop focused on learning about how the young people manage their condition, discussed challenges they face, and potential strategies that would make their lives easier.
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This session involved the young participants planning an event to celebrate their achievements and work with their families and hospital staff.
The young people wanted to make some money so they designed T-shirts which we will have printed and will sell at the event in March.
Some of the young people took T-shirts home with them to create limited editions at home, which we will auction off at the event in March.
The young people also put forward ideas for activities including karaoke and a guest speaker. Their event will be held on March 9th, 1pm-3pm, venue TBC.
More details coming soon…
This visual minute captures the flow of our project with St Mary's Young People's Diabetes Care Team and the the young people from day 1 to our final workshop. Captured as part of our project celebration with young participants, family and friends in March 2024.
We´ll be updating this page as the project progresses. If you’d like to receive updates, please sign up to our mailing list here.