Members' Week: “What’s the point?” - How does CAMHS listen to young people with a social worker?

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Despite the long-standing policy push to include young people’s perspectives in their mental health care, research about young people with social work involvement has consistently shown that they feel they are not listened to. We examine the notes of 70 young people with a social worker (comprising 16,566 unique case notes) accessing one Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

We found that these case notes often prioritise system expectations over truly hearing young people’s voices. Limited resources and a focus on risk mean that only the "right" risky words are taken seriously, leading to care decisions that do not reflect what young people actually want or need. This approach marginalises those whose words don’t fit narrow, risk-oriented criteria, particularly younger children and those in residential care.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• System-Level Priorities: How these priorities can lead to CAMHS professionals listening for risk and compliance rather than genuinely understanding young people’s mental health needs.
• Testimonial Invalidation: The ways in which young people’s own words are often disregarded, especially when their statements do not align with system-driven expectations.
• Epistemic Justice: The importance of recognising and valuing young people’s unique knowledge of their emotional lives, and the need for better resourced mental health services that honor their preferences.

PRESENTERS

Presenters will include a team of researchers from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care from the University of Cambridge. The team include:

Jack Smith, Francesca Crozier-Roche, Taliah Drayak who all have lived experience of both CAMHS and social care and long track-records of championing young people’s rights. Working alongside them are Dr. Tessa Morgan, who is a qualitative researcher at the University of Cambridge and David Graham, the National lead for the Care Leaver’s Association.

WHO'S IT FOR?

Anyone interested in young people’s social care or social work, and/ or mental health care. We will link the discussion about how to best facilitate young people’s participation in health care more broadly. This talk will be particularly interesting for parents and guardians supporting young people currently involved with CAMHS and for anyone interested in research created by experts-by-experience.

FEES

Members: FREE (don't forget to log in to your account to receive your discount)
Non-members: £20+VAT.

Places on this event are limited, so early booking is recommended.

CONTACT

Telephone 020 7520 7520/0310

Email events@corambaaf.org.uk

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