Staying Positive Workshops
The Staying Positive Workshops are a series of three one-day workshops delivered over a period of approximately three months for young people aged 12-18 years who are living with a long-term health condition. The workshops give them the skills to improve the management of their condition from both a health perspective and a social perspective.
The programme was developed as a result of direct consultation with teenagers themselves as to what the format and content should be; this included delivery by their peer group. The workshops are facilitated by young trained people aged between 14 and 25 years who are themselves living with a long term condition.
The workshops cover topics such as:
- Communication with family, friends and healthcare professionals
- Socialising and friendships
- Medication adherence
- School, careers and the future
- Feeling down and depressed
- Independence and transition
- Sex, drugs and alcohol in the context of having a medical condition for the older participants, and issues of puberty for the younger participants.
The peak time for decline in self-management skills is in early adolescence when young people, in the search for independence, begin to reject adult supervision of their condition. At the same time research shows that once problems of self-management become established they become difficult to rectify.
| 'The best thing about being in the workshop was being in a group that have the same condition as me: it is easier to discuss issues I normally find really hard to talk about.' 16-year-old with neurological disorder |
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The workshops incorporate a fun activity at the end of each session such as digital photography, African drumming or making a pop video.
Benefits
- The programmes are generic in nature so are suitable for many different conditions
- They use techniques which allow participants to rehearse skills thus reinforcing the learning process
- Reduced feelings of isolation and depression
- Improved quality of life
- Potential for further support through contact with others with self-management experience and access to a wider network.
The external evaluation demonstrated that the workshops are effective in improving young people’s confidence in managing their condition and their medication. Young people said that participating helped them to become aware of the importance of self care and the consequences of poor management. Teenagers with asthma and type 1 diabetes reported positive changes in their attitude to taking their medication in public places. Some young people reported changes in their ability to solve problems and make decisions in their lives.
If you would like to find out more about the Staying Positive workshop or any of our other courses, or would like to be contacted by your local Expert Patients Programme representative, please email staying.positive@eppcic.co.uk or telephone 01225 731414 or visit our website www.staying-positive.co.uk.
Expert Patients Programme Community Interest Company
The Tramshed, Beehive Yard, Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BD
Tel: 01225 731414
www.expertpatients.co.uk
EPPE/001/07
October 2007
© EPP CIC
