Success stories
Children and Young People's Emergency Services
In 2007, thinkpublic were invited by The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement to research and implement innovative methods to better engage children and young people with their local emergency health care services.
Following initial interviews with young people thinkpublic held a workshop with students from Walton High in Milton Keynes. During the workshop the students were invited to share their lifestyle experiences and knowledge of their local emergency health care services. The students designed ways in which they felt the emergency services could better communicate to them. Suggested communication ideas ranged from using social networking websites such as MySpace, to digital technologies such as podcasts.
Using this feedback thinkpublic designed and developed a toolkit and film, to help health care professionals to better understand how they can engage with children and young people, and how to communicate the options of local emergency health services. In partnership with teachers and healthcare professionals, thinkpublic also developed an Emergency Services Lesson Plan for Key Stage 3, creating better connections between the NHS and schools, which was launched nationally in June 2008.
With a holistic intention to improve young people's interaction and understanding of available emergency health care services, thinkpublic and The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement are currently working on partnering with the ten Strategic Health Authorities and representative schools across the UK, to spread and embed these products.
For more information about Children and Young People's Emergency Health Care Services, please contact Ian Drysdale at ian.drysdale@thinkpublic.com.
