The goal is to improve health outcomes by helping children be involved in their own healthcare. This is delivered through an education programme and resources designed to train healthcare professionals to communicate effectively with children and young people.
Me first has developed an innovative range of training and online resources. All of the resources have been developed with children, young people, and healthcare professionals and have a strong evidence base in research. Me first is one of the first programmes of its kind to develop a healthcare communication model in collaboration with children and young people.
Me first has been created by Common Room and Great Ormond Street Hospital, on behalf of Health Education England’s local team in North Central and East London.
Me first aims to:
- introduce a new communication model, practical tools and approaches to support communication with children and young people
- increase knowledge of the barriers and challenges to communicating with children and young people in healthcare and why it is important
- build on existing skills of healthcare professionals and increase their confidence to communicate with children and young people
– facilitate peer-to-peer learning by collecting and growing a hub of resources to share ideas and expertise in communicating with children and young people
There are currently various training options available including open-access one-day masterclasses, bespoke in-house training for teams and group bookings for CCGs.
The masterclass builds on participants’ existing skills and is aimed at all healthcare professionals including: Practice nurses, GPs, A&E staff, Staff nurses, Doctors, Dentists, and Allied Health professionals such as Physiotherapists, SALTs, OTs, Dieticians and Radiographers, and patient facing healthcare scientists such as Audiologists, Physiologists and Ophthalmologists.
The bespoke in-house training is tailored to the team’s specific needs. This allows the team to focus on particular issues, key areas of communication and specialty-related challenges. With team training, there is also an option for a half day follow up to help embed changes in practice.
The impact of the Me first masterclasses on CYP-centred care has been evaluated by the Evidence Based Practice Unit at University College London and the Anna Freud Centre.
Findings from the independent evaluation demonstrate a significant increase in healthcare professionals’ attitudes towards collaborative practice with young people. This increase was maintained at the four–to-six week follow-up. It also showed that healthcare professionals’ communication behaviours improved. Their exploratory listening, consensus-oriented listening, receptive listening, and action-oriented listening behaviours all significantly increased when scores were compared prior to the masterclass and four–to-six weeks after the masterclass.
The Me first website www.mefirst.org.uk contains all the learning materials needed to support the Me first masterclass. There is an interactive Me first communication model, which enables the user to build their own conversation by adapting the model to their practice. The Me first CYP centred communication model is based on a review of the literature and research on person-centred communication in healthcare, and literature and research on communicating with children and young people in healthcare.
On the website there is also a searchable resource hub which enables users to share tools, projects and ideas that already exist throughout the UK. The bespoke in-house training is tailored to the team’s specific needs. This allows us to focus on particular issues, key areas of communication and specialty-related challenges. With team training, there is also an option for a half day follow up to help embed changes in practice.