Youth Voice Survey 2022
The following statements were taken from the YouthVoice Survey 2022, a report prepared by Nicola Morton (Phd) and Sarah Wylie (MA) of The Collaborative Trust for Research and Training in Youth Health and Development for 24-7 YouthWork – January 2023.
“For many students, 24-7 YouthWork is clearly an immensely valuable component of their high school [or school] experience, and the consistency of findings across time suggests the model of support is well established and effective in achieving its aims.”
“High proportions of respondents reported improvement in their overall wellbeing since interacting with a 24-7 Youth Worker, and having been helped by them to a large extent. These results have remained very consistent over time, with similar proportions being reported in 2014 and 2017. Given the challenges presented over the last three years by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health response, the consistency of these results is rather remarkable, and speaks to a concerted effort on the part of 24-7 Youth Workers to maintain a stable, positive influence on these young people during highly unpredictable circumstances.”
“Overall feedback on the effectiveness of 24-7 Youth Workers was overwhelmingly positive, and remarkably similar to findings from 2014 and 2017. Over three-quarters of respondents reported an improvement in their overall wellbeing over the time they had been interacting with their Youth Worker, and more than half reported having been helped by their Youth Worker ‘a lot’ or ‘very much’. Feedback on specific outcome areas was also encouraging, with evidence of strong relationship building and support mechanisms.”
“Statistical analysis of the factors which were most strongly associated with more positive impact suggested one-on-one sessions and out of school activities were the most effective types of interaction students experienced, and the longevity of a student’s relationship with their youth worker was also a significant factor. These findings are supported by qualitative analysis of free text feedback on the most positive aspects of respondents’ 24-7 experience, in which ‘having someone to talk to’ stood out as the most prominent theme.”
According to the 2022 YouthVoice Survey, the most positive aspect students cited about their 24-7 experience was ‘having someone to talk to’. They also strongly appreciated the longer term nature of the relationship they had with youth workers, citing “My youth worker has built a positive relationship with me (92.4% ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’)”, followed by “My youth worker has helped support other students at my school (85.2% ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’).
Having someone to talk to, most common theme expressed by students/ most positive thing about their 24-7 experience.
Sub themes related to ‘having someone to talk to’ include trustworthiness/confidentiality, perceived lack of judgement, having someone to talk to other than friends/family/counsellors/teachers.
Left: Word cloud of responses to most positive thing about 24-7 Youth Worker experience. Taken from the Youth Voice Survey 2022, prepared by Nicola Morton (PhD) and Sarah Wylie (MA).
Testimonials