Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!Chapter 9 | 69Young people’s experiencesof service user participationYoung people were asked abouttheir experiences of being consultedwith and involved in decisionsabout service provision and delivery,as well as external events andconsultations. They were asked toreflect upon both the barriers theyhad encountered in participating,and the positive impact it had hadon their personal development. Theyalso shared their views on its valueand importance beyond meetingtheir personal needs. This chaptersummarises their responses.Barriers to participationYoung people said that they had encounteredonly one main barrier to meaningful young personparticipation: tokenism. Some young peoplereported feeling that consultations with someorganisations, particularly in statutory settings, felttokenistic, and said that they did not think theirfeedback would inform change within the mentalhealth agenda. For example, they reported that,at times, external professionals did not take themseriously, which resulted in them feeling devalued.However, one young person stated:“Coupled with the confidence I have gained fromthe service I attend, if I go to conferences and they’renot listening to me, I tell myself it’s their choice andI know I’m doing my part and all I can do is givesomething back to the service.”Young personOther young people commented that their feelingsof being devalued due to negative experiences wereoften short-lived and made them more determinedto have their voice heard afterwards. Such motivationthen encouraged young people to educateprofessionals about the work they were doing andhow it could influence change. Many young peopleacknowledged that just because some professionalsdid not want to listen, there would always be othersthat did.“I think it’s because they just think that we are littlekids and we’ve got problems, but once they see thatwe are making a difference in what we are doing, wethen prove them wrong.”Young personAll the organisations in the project aimed toreduce tokenistic participation by actively buildingrelationships with external organisations andnegotiating in advance with other professionals themethods of involving young people in consultationsand at events. In addition, service staff informed