Young voices shaping the future of healthcare

The Youth Advi­so­ry Group (YAG) is strength­en­ing young people’s voic­es in South Aus­trali­a’s health sys­tem, wel­com­ing six new mem­bers and grow­ing from sev­en to thir­teen members.

Estab­lished in 2023 through a part­ner­ship between the Com­mis­sion on Excel­lence and Inno­va­tion in Health (CEIH) and the Ado­les­cent Tran­si­tion Care Statewide Clin­i­cal Net­work (SCN), the YAG brings togeth­er young peo­ple aged 12 to 25 with lived expe­ri­ence of health­care ser­vices to help shape more respon­sive and youth-friend­ly care.

The group’s cur­rent ini­tia­tives include sup­port­ing the devel­op­ment of the My Health Care Pass­port, a prac­ti­cal resource designed to help young peo­ple com­mu­ni­cate their health­care needs when tran­si­tion­ing from pae­di­atric to adult ser­vices, and a Tran­si­tion Infor­ma­tion and Wel­come Pack to ensure young peo­ple feel informed and pre­pared as they nav­i­gate adult healthcare.

Recent work

Over the past year, mem­bers have helped co-design the South Aus­tralian Ado­les­cent Tran­si­tion Frame­work, ensur­ing young peo­ple’s expe­ri­ences informed the statewide strat­e­gy. They also helped devel­op a youth-friend­ly ​‘Frame­work at a Glance’ resource, mak­ing key infor­ma­tion more acces­si­ble for young peo­ple, fam­i­lies and health­care professionals.

The YAG has con­tributed to a range of projects across South Aus­tralia, includ­ing med­ica­tion infor­ma­tion ser­vices, the Nation­al Tran­si­tion Com­pass pro­gram, tran­si­tion renal ser­vices, ado­les­cent health­care envi­ron­ments and research into emerg­ing Type 1 dia­betes stem cell therapy.

Beyond project work, YAG mem­bers share their lived expe­ri­ences to sup­port clin­i­cian edu­ca­tion, ser­vice improve­ment and mean­ing­ful youth engage­ment across the health sys­tem. Through col­lab­o­ra­tion, co-design and advo­ca­cy, The YAG con­tin­ues to ensure young peo­ple’s voic­es help shape the future of health­care in South Australia.

To get involved, con­tact the YAG at CEIH.​AdolescentTransition@​sa.​gov.​au.