Creative (re)presentation of the views, experiences, and talents of care-experienced children and young people

Dr Emily Whyte

Background

My doctoral research at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) was at the intersection of social work and psychology, as it explored how physical activity can influence the mental health and well-being of care-experienced children and young people. As a Practitioner Researcher, I worked alongside care-experienced children and young people using participatory, person-centred, strengths-based, and voice-led approaches, which helped me to listen and learn, rather than impose the research agenda or my views. I was guided by co-production and trauma-informed principles and committed to building relational trust with care-experienced children and young people before, during and after the research, in the hope that we could create a resource together that felt meaningful to us all.

Key findings

While it is widely acknowledged that physical activity has numerous shorter-term benefits across diverse populations, the research explored the longer-term and nuanced influence that physical activity can have on care-experienced children and young people. The study highlighted that context is important – there needs to be consideration for who delivers physical activity projects, how, when, and where, because aligning contextual factors to values centred on choice, consistency, inclusivity, safety, and accessibility can determine whether physical activity will lead to longer-term mental health and well-being benefits, particularly because care-experienced children and young people at times have to navigate instability in their home, education, and relationships (Whyte et al., 2023). A recommendation from this finding, is for physical activity projects to be designed by care-experienced children and young people, so they have decision-making power on how physical activity is delivered, and the ways it can support health and development (Whyte, 2024). Another key finding is the need for collaborative and holistic action between physical activity projects and multiple services to help tackle inequality and injustice for care-experienced children and young people, especially because mental health support is not consistently provided for care-experienced children and young people throughout their care journey (Whyte, 2024).

Creative (re)presentation

To ensure that the personal accounts of care-experienced children and young people are heard and have the potential to be acted on, we created digital stories and a play to creatively (re)present the views, experiences, and talents of care-experienced children and young people. The play, titled Healing Pitch,  was co-written with four young people, and it combines research data (including poetry) from interviews, field notes and observation and (re)presents the young people’s personal and verbatim accounts of their experiences in care, their passion for football, and their mental health journey. We filmed a staged reading of the play to be used as an interprofessional resource in both teaching and practice for those that are interested in learning more about the topics, and what needs to change in the care system to better support care-experienced children and young people.

https://edshare.gcu.ac.uk/cgi/embed_player?docid=66564

The film has been shared via in-person screenings and online webinars and has generated positive feedback:

Relevance to social work training and practice

“I can really imagine the film being a useful tool for trainee social workers.”

“As a social work student this has made me think about the interactions I have with care-experienced children and young people, and how my communication comes off.”

“When I become a social worker, I would want to use this film with colleagues and carers, especially for those who have not had experience working with children and young people with complex needs or trauma.”

“The film really made me stop and think about how we attend to the voices of care-experienced children and young people in practice.”

Authenticity and emotional influence

“I really enjoyed the simplicity of the film. It felt truly authentic, and the actor’s integrity of the individual characters seemed so strong, and completely believable. The film was packed with insights and learning. I really love the suggestion from one of the characters that care experienced children and young people should have therapists from the start of their care experience.”

“The film was very insightful and honest. I am not sure if I have ever, in more than 20 years in academia, been to a presentation of research results that really made me feel emotional. There was a fascinating mix of “Yep, that’s what I would expect” and “Wow, I never thought of it like that before” and (with my research hat firmly on) there were so many ways that this could be followed up on.”

“We thought the use of language was really good – it wasn’t academic language; it was very personal, it felt real, and will be easy to understand by people of all ages.”

To learn more about the research please:

References

Whyte, E., McCann, B., McCarthy, P. J., & Jackson, S. (2023). A Narrative Review that Explores the Influence of Physical Activity on Care Experienced Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing. Childcare in Practice, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13575279.2023.2258086

Whyte, E. (2024). Exploring the Influence of Physical Activity on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Care-Experienced Children and Young People: A Participatory and Voice-Led Approach [Doctoral Thesis, Glasgow Caledonian University]. https://doi.org/10.59019/WMCY4199