Winner
Young people’s community worker pilot evaluation
Summary of work
In 2011 CLIC Sargent identified a major gap in support for young people with cancer. CLIC Sargent Social Workers offer practical and emotional support to young people treated at regional specialist centres, but more than half of young people with cancer had their treatment in an adult cancer ward at a local hospital, and had little access to this support or any alternatives to help them cope with the practical and emotional challenges they faced.
So the charity set up a pilot service to provide this support to young people with cancer in their community. Young people’s community workers meet young people with cancer in informal settings either at home or in their community. The community worker works with each young person to identify key challenges in his or her life and works with him or her to provide emotional, practical or financial support that is driven by his or her needs. The pilot included five community workers based across the UK and an evaluation completed in March 2013 demonstrated that the service made a transformative difference in the lives of the 220 young people supported. CLIC Sargent is now expanding the service across the UK alongside other improvements in support for young people with cancer.
Judges’ comments
This, well-executed programme is really making a difference to young persons’ lives. By providing specific one-on-one support, helping young people navigate the demands of the system, this initiative gave them ownership of their own care. It is great to see that having been tested it is now being rolled out with further improvements.
