Young Parents Project

By South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Health Districts

Summary

The Young Parents Project aimed to improve the health and well being of young parents and their children residing in South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra by:

• Improving the access of young parents to youth friendly information and resources
• Raising awareness among service providers of young peoples' experiences of the health system, including barriers to accessing services and their ongoing engagement with services.

The project was conducted in the three stages from 2008 to 2012:

• Stage one involved building sustainable links between health services, community services, general practitioners and young people
• Stage two worked in partnership with specialised youth non government organisations and involved recruitment and training of young mothers in effective communication skills for them to deliver in-service training to service providers, as well as development of training resources and information for parents
  Stage 2 Report ( pdf - 612 KB)
• Stage three involved a roll out of the project in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District. In-service presentations for health staff were given by trained local young parents, and training resources and information for parents and service providers were distributed. Stage 3 report ( pdf - 989 KB)

Resources

"Young Parents - An Insight: a DVD for Health Professionals"

The DVD centres on interviews with the four young mothers involved in the project. The young women recount their experiences, both positive and negative encountered when engaging with the health system as a young parent. The film includes key messages for health professionals on how to engage young people effectively. The DVD is available on the Young Parents Project webpage.

Young Parents Project Webpage

The webpage aims to support health and community based services by facilitating greater accessibility to young people's pregnancy care and parenting services located within the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Health Districts.

The information has been listed by local hospital area with links to pregnancy health care, community support, welfare, social services and childbirth education services for pregnant and parenting young people.

In addition, resources were developed and distributed to pregnant and parenting young people in South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra, which include:

Referral Guides for parents

• Plastic pocket size referral cards
• Referral information on fridge magnet

These resources were developed and distributed to pregnant and parenting young people in South Eastern Sydney.

Contacts

Youth Health Coordinator
South Eastern Sydney Local Health District
Phone: 02 9382 8291

Early Parenting Program Coordinator, Child, Youth, Women and Families Health
South Eastern Sydney Local Health District
301 Forbes Street
Darlinghurst, NSW 2010
GPO Box 1614, SYDNEY 2001
Phone: 02 9382 8685