The magic of participation: Why embedding young people’s participation in health services matters now more than ever

There is increasing interest in young people’s participation in the design and delivery of health services. But young people’s views are not consistently sought or acknowledged and they are still often marginalised in healthcare encounters. Embedding Young People’s Participation in Health Services: New Approaches explores participation in healthcare from the perspectives of young people, healthcare professionals and researchers.

This blog post considers the potential implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for youth voices. In a pandemic which has mainly affected adults, paediatric services and young people’s participation have often had to take a back seat while health services have been dealing with an unprecedented crisis. There is a risk that, far from being embedded, participation could fall back into being merely a ‘nice thing to do if you have time’.