Social Sense has been chosen to lead an exciting new consultation which will give children and young people more influence on shaping future health services in Manchester.

Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT), supported by Health Education England working in the North West (HEE NW), has commissioned Social Sense to lead a consultation relating to CHAMP, an established Children’s Health and Monitoring Programme based in Manchester.

Social Sense will be working closely with the University of Salford, who will be supporting the project design and independent evaluation of the 12-month project.

A child’s growth pattern is a fundamental indicator of health and wellbeing. CHAMP (https://www.champ.cmft.nhs.uk/) was created to help parents, carers and guardians in Manchester better understand their children’s growth by offering comprehensive and regular feedback.

In the UK, children are measured at the ages of 4 and 11 as part of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). Manchester is the only area to offer annual child growth updates to parents of primary school aged children and to invite all parents to view the results on-line.

To date, over 16,000 parents in Manchester have registered with CHAMP submitted information and digitally tracked the progress of their child on a regular basis. This has enabled them to proactively engage in the wider levels of support available across the city to help their children lead active, healthy lifestyles.

As children move beyond primary school age, it has been recognised that there are opportunities for direct engagement through schools and an adapted version of the current service.

Recognising the potentially-sensitive nature of the subject matter – and some of the excellent work taking place in other professional settings – the CHAMP team believe that taking this joined up approach early will reap greater rewards in the future.

Sarah Vince Cain, Clinical Programme Manager from CHAMP explains:

“During this consultation, we will be placing young people at the very heart of the process, collating their views alongside those of parents, teachers and clinical professionals.

The intelligence will allow CHAMP to move forward with even greater confidence, pushing further the boundaries of technology, innovation and evidence based support.”

Social Sense has a strong record on youth engagement, working with over 150,000 young people across various programmes and co-designing interventions that have led to measurable attitude, perception and behaviour change.

Managing Director Gary Lovatt explains that the project aligns well with “Our evidence base tells us that young people engage far better in programmes that they have either consulted on or co-designed. Aligning this intelligence with the experiences of parents, teachers and clinical professionals will offer CHAMP a well-rounded platform for continuous improvement.”

If you as an individual, your school or practice would like to be directly involved in the consultation, please email your contact name, preferred email and telephone details to [email protected].

If you are a professional working in a similar field outside of Manchester – or would simply like to be kept informed of our progress then please contact [email protected]