Hospital youth work evaluation 2022

In 2022 CfEY had the pleasure of working with the Trust for Developing Communities to help them evaluate their pilot hospital youth work project.

The project focused on providing youth work in a hospital accident and emergency department, as an innovative way to meet young people during difficult times and crisis points. Youth workers provide support to navigate the situation and in finding longer-term support to reduce the risk of needing emergency healthcare in the future.

Our evaluation report uses a mixture of:

• Quantitative data collected by youth workers, using tool co-designed with CfEY researchers,
• Data from a survey of hospital staff working in the A&E department, and,
• Qualitative data gathered in interviews with young people who had accessed support from the hospital youth worker.

Youth work in non-traditional environments, outside of youth centres, is a vital way to meet young people who might not access many services and could be missing out on the support they need. We are very pleased to provide evaluation support for this vital work, and also to contribute to a growing evidence base for youth work that meets young people where they are.