29/6/2005 - Teenage health review to inform council policy

Cumbria County Council cabinet has today welcomed the publication of a major review of teenage health and well-being issues in the county.

Research for the review, carried out for the Cumbria Health and Well-being Scrutiny Committee, involved more than 1,500 youngsters between 11 and 19 years-of-age and came up with many fascinating findings about the behaviour and attitudes of young people in the county.

Among the projects key research findings were that:

Young people want to be able to get personal access to health advice at places where they already go such as sports clubs, youth clubs and schools.

They want more things to do such as activities and trips, and more places to go, such as places to "hang-out" and quiet places to do homework away from home and school.

Teenagers are realistic about the possibilities of providing services in all parts of a large rural county like Cumbria and many expressed a desire for safe and reliable transport to allow them to use facilities some distance from their homes.

The survey also found:

A desire for better relations with the police

A need for more consistent information on sexual health, drugs, stress, alcohol and smoking.

Demand for improved access to physical activities, particularly for girls, at lower prices.

A need for higher quality, healthy food in schools at reasonable cost.

A desire to be involved in the future development of services for young people.

Philip Chappelhow, cabinet spokesman for children’s services, said: "This is tremendous piece of work - it has really engaged with young people in the county and got to grips with many of the issues facing them. There is a lot in this review that the county council can learn from and we will be using its findings to help inform the actions of the new Children’s Services directorate and we will continue to really involve young people in developing the policies that effect them."

The scrutiny review makes detailed recommendations for Cumbria County Council, other relevant agencies such as the NHS and other partners involved in youth work in the county.

The county council will be producing a detailed written response to the report and its recommendations by August.

It maybe possible to arrange interviews with young people who took part in the review - for details contact media officer Justin Hawkins on 01228-606334.

The review was conducted by the Cumbria Health and Well-being Scrutiny Committee with county councillors, district councillors working together with support from the Cumbria Drugs and Alcohol Action team, Cumbria healthy Schools, Cumbria Outdoors, Carlisle FM radio station and the national Centre for Public Scrutiny.