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Train the trainer with young carers: a peer-led model Evaluation and findings

Train the trainer with young carers: a peer-led model

Evaluation and findings


Contents

Introduction and background to the project 4

Levels of engagement 5

Impacts on the young trainers 6

Impacts on the young learners 8

Impacts on the professionals 10

Challenges arising from the project 11

Recommendations 12

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Introduction and background to the projectThe Children’s Society’s Young Carers in Focus (YCiF) programme was funded by a Youth in Focus grant from the Big Lottery Fund. YCiF created a national network led by 186 young carer ‘champions’ aged 10–25.

Running from May 2012 through to September 2016, the project gave young carers a chance to communicate, share their stories and advocate for the things that matter most to them.

The aim was to increase the well-being and future employment, training and education opportunities for young carers, particularly during transitional stages and as they moved towards independence.

Young people taking part received training and skills which improved their resilience, confidence, skills and knowledge. In addition these young carers were actively engaged in awareness raising, creating systems change and advocating for positive change at a local and national level.

This peer-led ‘train the trainer’ project was piloted from October 2016–2017 to work with an active core group of these young carers engaged with YCiF. Through a ‘train the trainer’ model of delivery, young carers themselves had the opportunity to gain further training and skills in planning, delivering and evaluating their own training events around mental health and well-being.

They also had the opportunity to gain accreditation to endorse the skills they developed through the programme. The ‘young trainers’ used their new skills and knowledge to plan and deliver a mental health and well-being session to another group of young carers in their local area.

This has enabled the Include Service to pilot and evaluate a peer-led model that can be incorporated into future young people’s peer facilitation models across the wider work of The Children’s Society.

The project involved the following activities:

¡ Training residential weekend – Young people engaged with presentation skills, event planning and mental health and positive well-being workshops.

¡ Gaining online accreditation – utilising the Open Badge Academy (OBA) platform to showcase and gain recognition for skills and knowledge gained throughout the project.1

¡ Localised training events – Young people delivered their own local mental health and well-being events through young carers services, schools and colleges.

¡ Consultations – Young people fed into a national conference for multi-agency professionals regarding young carers and reaching hidden groups.

¡ Professionals event – Young people were involved in chairing and delivering a workshop to delegates at The Children’s Society’s national conference ‘Implementing Change for Hidden Young Carers’ held at the University of Reading.

¡ Evaluation and celebration event – Young people attended a one day event in London to evaluate the project, including the peer-led model itself, and discuss the impacts

1 Open Badge Academy (OBA) is an online accreditation platform led by Digital Me www.openbadgeacademy.com/NYCI further information on page 15

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of engagement.Levels of engagement

Findings from this report are based on:

This evaluation report highlights the key impacts on the young trainers, their peers and professionals throughout the six month pilot. The report also outlines recommendations for future young peoples peer-led programmes.

15young people

attending a training residential

3young people gaining accreditation through Open Badge Academy

13young people

delivering mental health and positive well-being

sessions to their peers in their local area

78additional young carers

attending training in mental health and positive well-being

delivered by their peers

2young people chairing and

delivering a workshop at a professionals

conference

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Impacts on the young trainersOver the course of the six month pilot project 15 young people attended the training weekend, which involved workshops in presentation skills, event planning and mental health and positive well-being. They then used these skills to plan and deliver their local events.

Young people found the weekend training event helpful and informative:

‘ The train the trainer weekend was very good. It was really well organised. When we arrived we knew exactly what we were doing.’

‘ It was very informative and we learnt a lot in a short space of time…Staff are all really good at what they do. They are good at keeping you awake and giving you the information you need.’

Accreditations through the OBA platform were started at the training weekend, with young trainers completing Task One to showcase the learning undertaken. Task Two (to fully achieve the badges) was undertaken after peer-led delivery, allowing the trainer to reflect on their sessions. A full scheme of badges available can be viewed at openbadgeacademy.com/NYCI

Due to the time frame of

the programme – and time constraints on the young people who participated – opportunities to complete badges extended beyond the life of the programme.

Currently three young people have been awarded the ‘Presenter’ badge – one of these has also achieved their ‘Trainer’ and ‘Event Planner’ badges as well.

Many young trainers engaging with this programme had been previously involved with the Young Carers in Focus programme.2 Some felt that positive outcomes might be because of previous work undertaken. Baseline data collected supported this, with many young people already self-identifying as confident and skilled.

Even with this mitigation, young trainers reported improved confidence and skills. They also reported improved presentation skills over this six month

programme, though interestingly when asked about confidence in delivering presentations they were not as positive.

‘ My confidence has improved due to increased knowledge.’

Regarding well-being measures, young carers involved reported a positive impact on their knowledge and understanding of mental health, their ability to share this knowledge and ability to manage their own well-being. They did not report a positive impact on their comfort in accessing services; this may be due to a continuation of social stigma in accessing these services, or their increased confidence in their ability to manage their own well-being. Further work would need to be done to determine the reasons for these findings.

Data collected at the close of the programme continued to show positive outcomes in these areas, suggesting that this work had a long-term and sustained positive impact on young carers well-being.

2 Young Carers in Focus was a four year programme to support young carers as Champions to develop skill, knowledge and confidence, watch the evaluation video to find out more: makewav.es/post/9996846

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Areas that suggested longitudinal impact were:

¡ Presenting within the group

¡ Confidence within the group

¡ Ability to plan and run an event

¡ Ability to deliver a session on mental health and well-being to your peers

¡ Understanding of mental health

¡ Confidence about sharing your knowledge with others about mental health and well-being

These are the key areas that informed the training attended by the young people, which they later used to inform planning and delivery of their own events. For example, at local events they were able to use their ability to plan and run an event, and their ability to deliver a session on mental health and well-being to their peers.

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Thirteen of the fifteen young trainers have delivered sessions and events at their local young carers service to a younger group of young carers, and in schools and colleges. An average of 10 young carers attended each peer-led session.

One group of young trainers have delivered multiple sessions within schools and colleges in their area. The young trainers engaged intend to continue to utilise the skills gained to promote positive well-being with all young carers across the county.

There have been eight mental health and well-being sessions delivered across six projects, with 78* young people receiving the mental health and well-being training.

*the statistics are based on 63 of these learners returning evaluations.

Impacts on the young learners

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Understanding of mental health

Almost half (47.5%) of those trained (young learners) felt they now had a good understanding of mental health.

Access to mental health support

However, only 41% felt comfortable accessing mental health support for themselves.

Confidence in looking after own well-being

Importantly, 65% of those trained by the peer trainers said they now felt confident in looking after their own well-being.

47.5%

41.3%

65%

35%

35%

23%

17.5%

23.7%

12%

No improvement

Average/the same

Positive change

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Young people at the initial training weekend were asked for key messages to inform the The Children’s Society’s national conference ‘Implementing Change for Hidden Young Carers’ programme funded by Henley Festival and held at University of Reading. The young people’s messages focussed upon:

¡ identification of hidden young carers

¡ implementation of support

¡ how professionals (such as GPs, teachers and social workers) can better engage young carers.

These messages were used to inform the content and agenda for the day and taken to share with professionals in attendance.

Two young trainers co-chaired this national conference and delivered a workshop alongside the participation worker. The workshop shared key learning on effective participation with young carers, and shared tools to promote positive well-being.

Sixty six delegates attended this conference, including strategic leads, policy leads and commissioners from local authorities and nationally. It was also attended by young carers services from across England.

Feedback from delegates around the young people’s involvement was very positive, particularly around the well-being session. Delegates felt that the young carers’ engagement in the day, through chairing and delivery, was a highlight of the event.

‘ [The highlights were] Melissa and Rinah and hearing from services that include and participate with young carers.’

‘ Great that young carers co-presented.’

‘ Having young carers involved really made it extra interesting.’

100% of delegates felt that the participation and well-being session delivered by the two young carers was useful.

Impacts on professionals

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Initial recruitmentInitial recruitment was undertaken with young carers engaged as Champions through the YCiF programme. A core group of 20 Champions that had maintained active engagement were approached but unfortunately – due to their local projects funding, changes in management priorities, staff capacity, and young people moving on from projects to education, employment and training – some were unable to commit to this project going forward.

For local projects that could engage we were able to offer places for ‘non-champions’. This meant skill sets from those having undertaken training and those new to the work could be shared within local projects and at external-facing training.

Unfortunately we were still unable to offer this opportunity to as many previously engaged young carers as we had hoped.

Time limitations of young carersSeveral young carers engaged with the project were over 19, no longer attending a local young carers service, and attending university. Due to deadlines for courses and a lack of time to engage a group of young carers to get involved, they were unable to deliver their sessions within the programme time frame.

To try and overcome this we supported these young people by putting them in contact with young carers services that they had either previously attended or that were near their university. However due to ongoing university deadlines and exams during the January–April period they were still unable to deliver in the time frame.

Due to the commitment and passion of these young people, they are still aiming to deliver their sessions after April. The Include Programme will continue to support this work and share learning as it emerges.

Challenges arising from the project

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Recommendations

As part of the evaluation process at the end of the project, we asked the young people involved what messages they would pass on to other young people who may be involved in future peer-led work.

The young people fed back that they enjoyed the project and encouraged others to engage in this model of work. They also cautioned other young people to ensure they have the time to be involved, but highlighted that even though a young person may be nervous, their confidence would grow through the process.

About the project

‘ It’s a really great project, but make sure you have time for it.’

‘ All of the sessions will help you, so make the most of it.’

‘ It was positive, if you have the chance to do it, take it. It will benefit you.’

About delivering a session

‘ Ice breakers help your confidence as well as your audiences.’

‘ You might be nervous at first but then your confidence will build up and you will be fine.’

‘ I did it and loved it. You will have to face a few barriers but not to worry. Nothing is impossible. You will learn a lot about yourself too.’

‘ Know your capabilities and where to draw the line of what you’re comfortable to talk about.’

‘ Try not to worry too much, use what you teach, but remember your health is your priority.’

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In terms of models for peer-led training, based on our learning from this project we would recommend the following elements to ensure the project is a success:

1 Ensure that you have appropriate and transparent time frames in place

Young carers and project workers both outlined that the six month nature of the programme has been challenging for acquisition of skills, the opportunity to test these before delivery, and the time scales of contacting and setting up training days.

For future events it might be helpful to share a timeline of peer-led delivery expectations prior to engagement, and ask young carers and project workers to set dates and venues prior to attendance. This will allow them to undertake planning and gain skills with a set event in place, maintaining momentum and drive after the initial weekend.

2 Consider the timing of the programme

The number of young trainers engaged in the programme was lower than initially anticipated, with two not being able to deliver their session. This, as well as young learners’ constraints in being able to attend, resulted in a reduced number of young learners being engaged in the programme.

Many young carers outlined the difficulty of the ‘beginning of the year’ (the period between Christmas and May/June) which often means school and university exams and coursework deadlines. This difficulty extended to the young trainers and the young learners engaging with peer-led training.

For future events it is recommended considering timings around school holidays, exam timetables and university deadlines. It would be worth consulting with young people before booking training weekends and setting timelines for peer delivery.

Young carers at the evaluation day outlined that, for them, initial training around April/May – with at least a six month period to deliver the event (preferable over the July to December period) – would be easier to engage with.

3 Type of evaluation undertaken

In collaboration with our analysis team, we have explored other evaluation options that may be beneficial when undertaking this type of programme.

Due to our previous working relationship with many of the young carers engaged – where we had worked to have positive impacts on their confidence, well-being and skills – we did not see high levels of ‘distance travelled’ impacts in measures undertaken.

It may be beneficial to use a satisfaction survey or training evaluation (looking at knowledge, attitude and the intention for behaviour change) when engaging with young people whom have already undertaken interventions with The Children’s Society where they have seen positive improvements.

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About The Children’s Society

About The Children’s Society

Too many children and young people in this country don’t feel safe, loved or able to cope. Together we can change their lives.

The Children’s Society is a national charity that runs local services and campaigns to change the law to help this country’s most vulnerable young people.

Our supporters around the country fund our services and join our campaigns to show children they are on their side.

Right now, in this country, 4 million children are living in poverty. An estimated 16,500 are at high risk of sexual exploitation. Around 100,000 run away from home or care every year. There are 166,000 caring for a family member. One in ten has a mental health problem.

Across the country, particularly in the poorest areas, we’re helping more than 13,000 children and young people through over 100 services run by almost 900 staff and more than 12,500 volunteers.

We work hand-in-hand with children to make sure their voices are heard, campaigning for changes to the law to make sure no child feels alone.

About the Include Service

The Children’s Society’s Include Service is home to the national Young Carers Initiative, which supports children and young people who care for parents or siblings who suffer from chronic illness or disability.

We work with voluntary and statutory services across the country to support young carers. We campaign for change and promote best practice with central and local Government.

We also help young carers by giving them a platform to share their experiences and raise awareness about the issues they face.

We create a national focus for young carers, their families and those who work to support them, to promote common standards and whole-family working.

We provide training and consultancy to local authorities, health, statutory and voluntary organisations, in order to implement best practice and improve service delivery, identification and support for young carers, those they care for, and the whole family.

More information and a range of materials and resources – including a Good Practice Guide for Practitioners – are available at youngcarer.com or can be ordered by calling 01962 711 511.

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About Open Badge Academy

Open Badges are verifiable, portable digital awards which contain embedded metadata that describe the earner’s experiences, skills and achievements. They comply with the Open Badges Specification and are shareable across the web.

Open Badge Academy provides organisations with a platform where they can create academies to launch Open Badges and use badges to recognise learning, validate skills and build capabilities. Learners can use badges to build a richer picture of their skills and abilities, and evidence badges on the move via a mobile app. Learners can also share their profiles to stand out from the crowd.

Professionals can verify skills using endorsements, with experts, educators and peers providing evidence-based endorsements of badges.

You can find more information at openbadges.org

CFD0232/1017

Too many children and young people in this country don’t feel safe, loved or able to cope.

Together we can change their lives.

The Children’s Society is a national charity that runs local services and campaigns to change the law to help this country’s most vulnerable

young people.

Our supporters around the country fund our services and join our campaigns to show children they are on their side.

Find out more at childrenssociety.org.uk

If you would like to know more about The Children’s Society and our work with children and young people, please visit childrenssociety.org.uk or call our Supporter Care team on 0300 303 7000. © The Children’s Society 2016. The copyright of all material appearing in this publication belongs to The Children’s Society.It may not be reproduced, duplicated or copied by any means without our prior written consent. All photographs posed by models. Photos © Laura McCluskey

Charity Registration No. 221124

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