Young parents’ experiences of a multi-agency young families project: Findings from a co-produced study

Young families, in which the parents are aged 16–24, require support in order to reduce health and social inequalities for themselves and their children. It is even more vital for young parents who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Health organisations, policy makers and heath care professionals often recommend that this support is best started before the birth of the children. An early intervention multi-agency project aimed at providing such support and offsetting social inequalities was initiated in a coastal city in Wales, UK. This paper reports on one phase of a year-long mixed methods study into the work of the multi-agency project (the pseudonym for the project, for the purposes of this paper is ‘MAP’). We draw on findings from four Focus Groups and participant observation with services users (n-18) and analyse their experiences of being involved in MAP. This phase of a wider study was co-produced as it was devised and overseen by a research development and delivery group including staff members, service users and the research team. The role of the group was to devise the research study, to monitor its progress and to contribute to the analysis of the data. Data were analysed thematically and the findings demonstrated that the staff helped the young people in various ways, for example learning parenting skills. However, in addition to the skills that MAP staff helped service users to develop, we suggest that other previously unintended aims proved to be of great value. These included building friendships, improving mental health and gaining access to financial support. In this paper we argue that MAP was therefore found to be beneficial in expected and unexpected ways, due to the efforts and working relationships of the multi-agency staff and the services they offered. We suggest that this form of multi-disciplinary working serves to challenge health and social inequalities experiences by young parents. We advocate further development of similar services