{"id":3291,"date":"2023-02-02T09:45:05","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T09:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/ighi\/?p=3291"},"modified":"2023-02-02T09:45:05","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T09:45:05","slug":"a-young-persons-experience-of-being-involved-in-the-networked-data-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/ighi\/2023\/02\/02\/a-young-persons-experience-of-being-involved-in-the-networked-data-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"A young person\u2019s experience of being involved in the Networked Data Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Institute of Global Health Innovation partners with Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP) and Imperial College London to lead the North West London Networked Data Lab (NDL). <\/em><\/p>\n

The Networked Data Lab (NDL)<\/a>, funded by The Health Foundation, is a community of data professionals looking to solve the UK\u2019s most pressing health care challenges since COVID-19. The North West London NDL is one of five NDLs around the UK that carries out data analysis on various topics based on local priorities, which were determined through community engagement and by the Health Foundation. Health care data is often fragmented, making reliable analysis difficult, but in North West London we have access to a depersonalised linked data set, via Discover-NOW<\/a>, covering a diverse population of over 2.5 million. The NDL analysed how\u00a0young people\u2019s mental health and access to care was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/em><\/p>\n

Arif, one of the 20 young people who attended the first public involvement workshop<\/a> in May 2021, tells us about his experience of being involved and why he then ended up joining the project\u2019s Young Person\u2019s Advisory Group.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This blog was originally\u00a0posted online by Imperial College Health Partners<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Person<\/p>\n

I saw an advert for the workshop in communications from a youth charity I\u2019m part of. I thought it sounded like an interesting workshop because it was about coming up with priorities for research around young people\u2019s mental health, which could then improve care. I wanted to represent my views as a young person with experience of mental health difficulties and to try to make a difference for other young people going through something similar.<\/p>\n

“I think it\u2019s so important to involve young people in projects like this \u2013 we should have a say in how services, which support us, run.” – Arif<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More young people need mental health support than ever before, and services are struggling with increased demand \u2013 something needs to change. Who better to suggest changes than the people who have experienced the services and have ideas about what could make them better. We bring our own experiences and skills that are different to researchers and healthcare professionals. We can help unlock answers to issues that professionals might not have thought about.<\/p>\n

After the workshop, we were asked if we wanted to apply to be part of the Young Person\u2019s Advisory Group, to oversee the project from a young person perspective, which I was pleased to join. My role was to advocate the views of young people in the work and outputs and to make sense of the data. For example, we were presented the initial findings from the analysis of the data and then suggested areas that we thought would be interesting to explore further. The data analysts presented the different findings in a number of graphs and talked us through the significance of each. One of the findings was around how young women in North West London have been accessing more mental health services since COVID-19 and receiving more diagnosis and treatment than young men. However, when we discussed this in the group, we thought that it didn\u2019t necessarily mean young men were not experiencing as many mental health difficulties as young women, but maybe young men were less likely to seek help. Having us look at the results, helped the analysts see that the results might not be showing the whole picture.<\/p>\n

I also reviewed The Health Foundation\u2019s\u00a0national policy paper<\/a>\u00a0to make sure that the results were clear. The paper recommends that three key areas need urgent investigation, to help ensure children and young people universally get the care they need.<\/p>\n

\"Image These are, understanding:<\/p>\n