Targeting hard to reach young people with 'grab bags' in the emergency department

NMUH Staff Publications

102

<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Aims This project uses drawstring 'grab bags' inthe Emergency Department to deliver key information to young people onvulnerabilities including child sexual exploitation (CSE), sexual health(including LGBT+ issues), drugs, alcohol, mental health, gangs and knife crime.Our hospital Emergency Department treats approximately 4000 12-18 year oldsannually. These include those hardest to reach, specifically those who do notregularly attend school/college. The 'grab bags' are one strand of a largerbi-borough multiagency project which aims to target CSE, gang activity andmissing children, with a focus on joint working and data sharing across twoboroughs. Methods The bags were created after consultation with young peopleand were resourced by multiple agencies. The contents include informationleaflets, wallet cards with useful numbers/websites, a consent quiz, and alipsalve with a domestic violence helpline printed as a secret barcode. Forthose aged 13+, condoms are included. Results Initial results (n=36; targetn=100) of the evaluation questionnaires were from young people aged 12-17 years(mean age 15) with 57% female. The bags were scored from 0 ('completelyuseless') to 10 ('amazing'), with a range of 2-10 and an average score of 6.5.The most interesting or useful items were thought to be drug information (42%),condoms (40%), a list of helpful numbers/websites (33%), the lipsalve (28%) andinformation on mental health support (28%). 50% felt the bags were a good wayof disseminating information, while 28% would like information face to face,22% from a website and 17% from an app. 44% would recommend the bags to afriend and a further 42% 'maybe' would. Individual comments included 'it feelsgood that you are trying to reach young people' and 'I am going to give thelipsalve to a friend.' Conclusion The initial questionnaire responses plusverbal feedback given to staff have been very positive. Anecdotally, a numberof missing children have presented to our ED and if even a small number ofthose vulnerable young people are helped by this project, it will beworthwhile. [<strong>Conference abstract</strong>]</span></span>