Child health and well-being
Thursday 15 October 2009
As part of its voluntary sector support
programme, NCB has surveyed a wide range of third sector
organisations working on children and young people's health and
well-being, to help give the Department of Health an overview of
the sector.
NCB's voluntary sector support (VSS) programme helps build the
capacity of voluntary and community sector organisations involved
in the delivery of children and young people's services.
The VSS programme recently completed a survey of third sector
organisations working on children's health and well-being to inform
its work as a strategic partner of the Department of Health. It
sought to understand the health and well-being focus of
child-centred organisations and the policy frameworks within which
they operate. Ninety-nine organisations responded, from charities
to social enterprises.
Survey results
The survey found that respondents carry out a wide range of
activities relating to children and young people's health and
well-being. The majority of the organisations work with all
children and young people, although many have a particular focus on
disabled young people, those from minority ethnic groups and those
with mental health needs.
The organisations operate across a diverse range of themes, with
emotional health and well-being most frequently mentioned.
Thirty-three per cent of services working locally were being
commissioned by their primary care trust (PCT). Forty-six per cent
believed their PCT was joined up effectively or quite effectively
with their Children's Trust, although only 27 per cent of
organisations working regionally or nationally thought that health
was joined up quite or very effectively with children's
services.
NCB asked about respondents' awareness and involvement with
government health and well-being initiatives. Best known were the
child health strategy Healthy Lives, Brighter Futures, and the
Healthy Schools programme. Levels of involvement in shaping
initiatives were generally low (under 15 per cent). Respondents
were most likely to have been involved in shaping the Teenage
Pregnancy Strategy, Transforming Community Services, the Child and
Adolescent Mental Health Review, the Play Strategy and Aiming High
for Disabled Children.
When asked to name the top three initiatives which respondents
felt their organisation needed to know more about, the Child Health
Strategy came out top, followed by the Healthy Child Programme and
the You're Welcome quality criteria. The survey provides a
valuable snapshot of the operation of child health and well-being
organisations, and will be very helpful in determining the VSS
programme's priorities when working with the Department of
Health.
More from NCB:
More details of NCB's VSS programme are available at www.ncb.org.uk/vss,
including:
- Information on our work to strengthen the children and young
people's third sector
- Details of our programme as strategic partner to the Department
of Health
- News of our shared services model of infrastructure
support