The St. Michael's Hospital Youth Advisory Council: Incorporating the youth voice into service delivery

For this special series HIROC is partnering with the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO) to highlight the work of several amazing primary healthcare teams. In this episode we speak with representatives from the Youth Advisory Council, part of the St. Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team. Katie Sussman is a Social Worker on the Family Health Team; Muzammil Syed is a member of the Youth Council and a graduate student at the University of Toronto; and Ermias Nagatu is also a member of the Youth Council and a student in the Occupational Health and Safety Program at Ryerson University. The St. Michael's Academic Family Health Team has a focus on serving vulnerable and unattached patients – and youth are an important part of that population. The creation of the Youth Advisory Council came from a desire to have youth patients inform the Family Health Team about what youth services were needed and where improvements could be made. It's only been a year – and the council has smoothly transitioned to virtual collaboration. The students are having an impact on decision-making as planned, but the council has also transformed into a place where the youth are playing a true leadership role. Quotables "We really consider patients to have the most essential insights when it comes to healthcare development and delivery." – KS "The initial intention of the youth council was to focus on healthcare services. What's really amazing is that's it's transitioned into a place where youth really have a leadership role." – KS "We transitioned from meeting at the Bond St. Family Health team location to fully virtual on Zoom and attendance actually increased and engagement increased. From there, we were able to move forward with our next steps." – EN "When youth told us the service they needed the most but were not currently accessing was a psychologist or counselling, that gave us a target, something we could improve awareness of." – MS "One of the things that's really important with any advisory committee is recognizing the importance of power-sharing and that the health practitioners aren't actually the experts here. It's the patients who are." – KS "There's a strong emphasis on diversity within the team – a diversity of people with different backgrounds, with different life experiences, and diversity of thought as well." – MS "You need to give youth time. Youth provide energy, they provide new ideas, provide lots of momentum and a fresh new perspective. But it often requires time." – MS "We are so lucky to have youth patients who are so motivated, have such a desire to create, to change, to do and to also teach us." – KS   Mentioned in this Episode: Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario St. Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team Ryerson University University of Toronto   Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on Twitter, and listen on iTunes. Email us at [email protected].