The Young People’s Health Partnership represents the interests of young people and young adults aged 10 – 25. We focus specifically on young people facing health inequalities. We are a partnership of seven organisations with VCSE networks across England from the youth and young people’s health sectors.

• We support young people to exercise empowered and active voices
• We provide advice on how policies and services can affect young people differently, particularly marginalised groups.
• We increase understanding of good age appropriate care for young people and why it is important
• We focus on young people’s wellbeing and increasing understanding of effective prevention work
• We support the youth and young people’s health sectors to work in partnership with the health system

Together with AYPH the partnership includes: British Youth Council, Brook, StreetGames, UK Youth, We Are With You, and Youth Access. Our network is made up of over 1600 services and members around the UK.

Recent work

Young people’s health inequalities

​YPHP have developed a position statement on young people’s health inequalities. We believe that any efforts to reduce health inequalities must involve concerted efforts to prevent and reduce inequality in health outcomes and social determinants for young people aged 10-25. Our statement provides data on differences in health, direct experiences of young people from the NHS Youth Forum and examples of best practice from across our organisations.

Children, young people and families’ experiences of chronic asthma management and care

YPHP led work to develop a scoping review of existing evidence and findings from engagement work focused on better understanding the experiences of children and young people with chronic asthma from communities that have been marginalised. Working in partnership with AYPH, Friends, Families and Travellers, the Race Equality Foundation and RCPCH&Us the work was delivered as part of the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance.

What challenges have young people who face inequalities experienced during the Covid-19 lockdown?

YPHP led engagement with groups of young people about their experiences of Covid-19 and the pandemic. We asked young people from LGBTQ+, Gypsy, Traveller and Roma and young carer communities about their experiences of COVID-19 and lockdown, how this has affected their health and how they accessed support. Key messages from the young people about their experiences in lockdown were shared in a webinar in late October 2020 with policy leads, NHS England and PHE staff and healthcare professionals. You can read the full report here.

Ten tips for youth social prescribing

As we move into recovery post COVID-19 we know that Primary Care Networks and Social Prescribing will be vital sources of support for children, young people and families affected by the pandemic and lockdown. We have worked with young people to better understand what they want from Primary Care Networks and one of our members StreetGames leads the Youth Social Prescribing Network. We are sharing the top ten tips StreetGames have developed to support commissioners and practitioners to develop and embed effective social prescribing for children, young people and families.

Resources

Closing the Employment Gap for Young People

YPHP developed a scoping review to provide an overview of evidence and a resource to help those working with young people to support them.