Feeling well, feeling cared for? Using participatory and arts-engaged research to improve understanding and professional responses to the mental health needs of care-experienced young people

Care-experienced young people face significant levels of mental distress yet the nature and lived reality of this is poorly understood and undermines the degree to which professional caregivers can provide effective support. This is exacerbated by the lack of ‘voice’ and control care-experienced young people have as active producers of knowledge through research. Using a small-scale, knowledge exchange project, we sought to address these concerns by employing coproduction and participatory action research with care-experienced young people to articulate their experiences of mental distress and the kind of supports they need. Their insights were used to develop and co-deliver an online training programme to professional care givers. An arts-based methodology involving sound was utilised to enhance learning and emotional connection. The findings illustrate that: professional caregivers lack knowledge about mental health and need adequate training to support the mental health of care-experienced young people; communication and relationship-building skills are central to improving mental wellbeing; systemic change is also required; and hearing directly from young people in mental health training and amplifying their voice through the creative use of sound increases impact. These findings endorse creative, coproduced training as a valuable means of effecting the type of culture and systemic change required to significantly improve the support for care-experienced young people’s mental health and wellbeing.