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Involving Gypsy, Roma & Traveller Communities

National Voices, the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain (ITMB) and the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) held a one-day workshop in London on 30 September 2009 to look at the experience of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities in getting involved in health and social care policy and practice, as well as to establish how to meaningfully involve them in the work of these three organisations and in a wider context.

The report from the day can be found here.

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Involvement of Children and Young People

National Voices and the National Children's Bureau (NCB) recently held a workshop to identify ways that children and young people can have a stronger voice in national health policy by getting involved in the work of National Voices. Fourteen young people and five adults worked together to explore approaches to involvement through shared experiences and stories. This was followed by two participatory exercises used to explore issues raised by the Big Care Debate and to record the views of young people about the vision and funding options considered by the consultation on the future of care.

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The Adult Autism Strategy from a BME perspective

National Voices hosted a roundtable workshop for 36 people with an Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and their families or carers from a BME background, as well as for professionals with experience of working with people with ASC from BME communities. The purpose of this session was to test the issues and solutions raised throughout the Department of Health consultation on the Adult Autism Strategy, and to see if there were any different or additional issues for people with ASC from a BME background.

To read the summary report from the day's discussions please click here.

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The Role of African Culture in Involvement

Together with the African newspaper The Trumpet, National Voices co-hosted a focus group to look at the role of culture in involvement for African communities in health & social care policy. Thirteen people representing eight different organisations attended the event, and participants were a mix of people representing various African communities.

Participants discussed involvement in relation to the role that culture plays in African communities and their involvement in health and social care policy, recounted their perceptions and experiences, and placed particular emphasis on identifying good practice, inherent barriers and implications for policy-makers and service users.  Some key recommendations for improvements in the policy-making process were also put forward.

To read the full report from the event please click here.

The Prime Minister's Commission on the future of Nursing and Midwifery

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In August 2009, National Voices hosted 2 roundtable workshop sessions to gauge the views of BME communities and 'seldom heard' groups on the future of nursing & midwifery.  The voices of these communities were fed into the first round of the stakeholder engagement process for the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing & Midwifery, which is chaired by Ann Keen MP and due to report in March 2010.

Participants discussed what the knowledge, skills and attributes of an ideal nurse or midwife are; what they would like to see nurses and midwives doing more of and/or doing differently in the future (in people's own homes, in the community or in hospital); and finally what might be preventing nurses and midwives from doing this now.

To read the output form the workshop discussions please click here.

Meaningful Involvement with BME and 'Seldom Heard' Communities

On Friday 3 April 2009 National Voices hosted a workshop looking at how to achieve meaningful involvement in health and social care policy with black and minority ethnic (BME) communities and others whose views are frequently excluded or ‘seldom heard’. Twenty-two organisations that provide support and/or services for these communities were in attendance.

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