ChangeFactory has, since 2015, facilitated opportunities for young people to present knowledge from children to professionals and leaders for mental health services. This has been carried out through live presentations, meetings, films, and podcasts.
From 2016 to 2018, ChangeFactory carried out a professional development work involving 32 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service units across ten hospitals. From 2018-2021 ChangeFactory carried out a professional development work involving 50 municipal mental health services across ten major cities.
The aim was to identify what young people with experience from mental health services and leaders of mental health services considered to be good practice in mental health services.
The work with presenting children’s knowledge to professionals and leaders in mental health services has led to changes in practice. Some of these changes include:
- More professionals meet children with warmth and kindness.
- More professionals understand that children’s behaviour and expressions of distress are responses to painful or difficult experiences.
- More professionals listens more to children’s own views when decisions about support and help were being made.
- More professionals understand how medication is experienced by children and young people, and why it should be a last resort after other forms of help have been tried.
- More professionals have a deeper understanding of how the use of physical force is experienced by children and how it can be prevented.