When I enrolled in a health course, I hadn’t imagined that my personal opinion could matter. But when we worked with Co-create and Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) on the topic of vaccinations, it opened my eyes. I was able to reflect on my own experiences getting vaccinated, and found it interesting to hear other people’s contributions and how similar an experience we all actually had.

 

Where I felt my contribution mattered.

Throughout the day, we took part in different activities to share our thoughts and opinions. Writing things down, conversing, and having the room divided into “agree” or “disagree” allowed everybody to contribute, however they felt comfortable. These versatile activities were successful in allowing everybody to not only feel included, but also like their opinion mattered. Personally, I felt most included when talking about the experience of vaccinations during school. There was a common experience that, whilst getting vaccinated, we actually did not know the reasoning behind it. Parents would receive a letter to sign. We may have been given the name of the vaccine, but there was no explanation as to what it does, how it works, or even what would happen if we declined the vaccine. As children, we need guidance about our physical health. But if we’re not given a clear understanding of what’s going into our bodies, how can we tell guidance from control?

 

Empowering young people to take control

This experience, talking about a topic which had never before crossed my mind before, felt empowering as not only a young person, but a young person studying to become involved in the health sector. We want our opinions to be heard, challenged, and reflected on. This is something young people need to experience while growing up to ensure change will take place.

Before this project, I quite honestly never really thought about the importance of vaccinations – they were just something that happened to us. Now, I believe vaccinations are a crucial part of our medical journey as humans, and we should be aware of what is going into our bodies and when we have had them. Overall, this day has encouraged me to keep track of my own health as a whole and take control of my medical journey.

 

Moving forward

Reflecting on the day as a whole, the most important thing to me was finding common problems young people have faced while going through the vaccination process. If I had the opportunity to be involved in similar projects, I would gladly take it given how I felt after this experience. I feel as though involving young people is so important, as they are the future. Hearing another perspective from someone who has a recent experience gives insight into how things are happening in the present day. This is crucial to evaluate whether we are doing things the best we possibly can. Speaking for myself, I definitely feel more confident to share my opinions on health topics, and I hope my peers feel the same way too. Building a confident youth to challenge imbalances in the medical field, whether from the perspective of a professional or a patient, is so important for positive change to take place.