Insight: Dear Health and Wellbeing

Young Scot worked with the Scottish Government to gather insight into young people’s perceptions and experiences of health and wellbeing by gathering anonymous letters. An open letter entitled Dear Health and Wellbeing was hosted on Young Scot’s preferred third-party tool Survey Gizmo and Young Scot's national Rewards programme. Between 19th December 2017 and 17th January 2018 74 completed responses were received.

Summary

The majority of those who wrote a Dear Health and Wellbeing letter related the topic to having a physically healthy body. Ability to exercise and eat a healthy diet is a concern for the young people who completed a letter, both in terms of access and cost. However, there is recognition that health and wellbeing is not just related to fitness and eating a balanced diet, but also having good mental and emotional health.

Many of the respondents stated that they had support from family, friends or teachers at school to help them achieve better health and wellbeing. However, the lack of support mentioned by some respondents demonstrates that this is not the case for everyone.

The role of schools in encouraging good health and wellbeing is an important topic, both in terms of education and the opportunities that schools can offer. Most respondents who mentioned education did so negatively, suggesting that the way health and wellbeing is supported could be improved. The insights gathered in these letters indicates that education should explore all aspects of the topic, including physical health, mental health and societal issues.

Dear Health and Wellbeing Letters

Young Scot received 74 Dear Health and Wellbeing Letters. Of these, seven responses were excluded from thematic analysis as they were considered non-pertinent. These responses are not explored in the report, but are available in the Appendices. Three responses were categorised as Other as they did not fit any other themes.

Responses to the Dear Health and Wellbeing letter were categorised under seven key themes:

1. Physical aspects of health (what makes a healthy body i.e. diet and exercise)

2. Support (who individuals get support from, areas where they lack support)

3. Mental health (any aspect of mental or emotional health)

4. The role of schools (how schools encourage health and wellbeing i.e. education, available food, provision of fitness opportunities)

5. Personal importance (how important good health and wellbeing is to the individual)

6. Accessibility/cost (how easy it is to access/afford good health and wellbeing)

7. Issues linked to gender (how gender constructs impact health and wellbeing)

Due to the level of detail provided in the Dear Health and Wellbeing letters, only selected excerpts have been included in this section of the report.

Physical features of health were discussed in 93 responses. Many respondents covered more than one physical feature within their letter.

“I really like you! After discovering the gym around 4 years ago, you have changed my life. I love keeping fit and maintaining a balanced diet. Not only am I happy with the way I look, my outlook on life is different…”

“A good healthy lifestyle is someone that has a balanced diet enough of any vitamins you need and things like that, maybe uses the gym or does things like walking and running. Someone with an unhealthy life style is someone that has too much sugar and Is lazy which could leave to health problems in the future.”

“Getting involved in sports clubs as well as actively watching my food intake has improved my overall health and fitness whereas, for a healthy and happy mindset I found I had to take time out of each day.”

Support in achieving good health and wellbeing was mentioned in 49 responses. Most named someone who supports them, however 4 individuals identified a lack of support.

“…To improve health and well-being of students and pupils, the issue of their health and wellbeing first addressed in schools so that they know when and where to find help if needed, and someone to help them be healthy and happy. This should include full support from friends, family, neighbours and other people in local communities. There are doctors, hospital staff, teachers, police officers and course parents who wish to see many young people as healthy and happy as possible and are always willing to lend a hand to achieve this goal. Most importantly, young people should not be afraid to ask questions should they be curious or scared about something.”

“…My old school teachers supported me in health and wellbeing... they made sure I always took part but they made sure that we were all doing something that we liked.”

“I think younger adults with mental health issues like myself should receive more support and help as there isn't enough support out there … it's not easy to battle especially when you don't get as much support as you should especially if you have no family that are interested that really doesn't help at all, but definitely needs to be more support offered”

Issues surrounding mental or emotional health were mentioned in 42 responses.

“…I have also noticed that mental health has never been covered in a PSE class I have attended at my school, which I think is damaging as it doesn't open up the conversation about mental health…I am also concerned that the length of the waiting list shows a worryingly high amount of teens who need help, and I wonder if we should ask ourselves what pressures in society are causing so many of our young people to have mental health issues”

“Wellbeing is slightly different from health, as it focuses on how you feel in yourself instead of how you measure yourself against parameters like weight and body fat. if you are happy in your body and mind, then that is when you are truly healthy.”

“Dear health and wellbeing, I am a teenage female living in a world full of peer pressure and the perception of how a female should look with a perfect body and beautiful features, hair and makeup. Whether it is on TV, Radio, Social Media, in newspapers or magazines, we are surrounded by judgement and expectations. … Furthermore to add to the pressure for young people, many suffer from mental health problems and honestly I am not surprised: we live in a cruel world where people can make you feel bad about yourself even if you feel comfortable in your own skin, plus the added stress of work, school, exams and having to decide what to do with your future.”

The role that schools play in encouraging good health and wellbeing was discussed in 23 responses. Most letters that mentioned education did so in a negative way.

“My family always supports and encourages me to make the right choices but I feel that it is a lot more difficult to do in school. The food that is served in the cafeteria is often greasy and really bad for you and I think that there should be a wider range of good quality, wholesome foods in the schools. We learn about wellbeing inside of school as well however many problems that are faced by youths today are not covered so I think that the contents of the topics should be updated.”

“Health and Wellbeing, I believe, is an essential part of all young people's lives. With the current curriculum acknowledging this and having introduced more ways to get the message to young people, health and wellbeing is being recognised as a key part of our lives.”

Individuals referenced how important health and wellbeing was to them in 20 responses. A further 3 responses described a specific experience or story about health and wellbeing.

“Health and Wellbeing is one of the most important things to me and it means quite a lot to me. I would encourage people to lead healthy lifestyles and be active to prevent problems in later life…”

“Health and wellbeing is important, it affects us all in many aspects of life. Mentally, physically, emotionally, we are hugely affected.”

How difficult it is to access or afford good health and wellbeing was discussed in 17 letters. The majority of these were in reference to exercise/health food, although 2 respondents highlighted how important it is to access healthcare (hospital/doctors).

“…I think that young people's health and well-being could be improved by: having cheaper healthy options in big brand shops (Tesco, Asda, etc) and making places like pools or gyms more accessible to young people.”

“To stay healthy I go on walks in the woods on the trails with my friends but not many people are aware of the route that are local and easy to use, I think people would be healthier if they were made aware of this as for many the gym or exercise equipment is too expensive. …”

Issues regarding gender equality were highlighted in 3 letters. Two people mentioned transgender issues specifically.

“This year I have struggled with a lot … being transgender … To improve HWB, the way it is taught in schools could change because the way it is taught in schools, mental health and LGBT is taught as negative (especially mental health) forcing pupils to talk to people, even when they don't want to talk to anyone.”

“Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.”

Three responses were categorised under the main theme of Other as the topics did not fit anywhere else.

“I think that health and well-being is stuff like about your body and keeping yourself safe and there are lots of ways that you can keep yourself safe like holdings parents hands if you’re younger, keep your hands and feet to yourself to keep other people safe aswell as you…”

Demographics

People from 24 out of 32 Local Authorities within this sample.

Respondents were also asked to provide the first half of their postcode. These responses have been included in the Appendices as they were freely typed.

Most respondents were in their early- to mid-teens (12-15 years old).

Most respondents (74%) identified as female and 22% percent identified as male. Four percent of respondents selected prefer not to say. Three respondents have identified as transgender at some point in their lives.

Important Notes

Responses to the Dear Health and Wellbeing Letters have undergone thematic analysis. Answers were input into a word cloud generator and word counter to support the prioritisation of themes. Each response was individually read and coded according to the relevant secondary themes. These were then grouped into less than ten main themes that would aid report structure. All raw responses within their themed groups have been included in the Appendices.

In some cases, a response met the criteria of more than one category. All answers have been coded into as many categories as relevant, meaning some answers span several categories. This means that the quantified results from qualitative questions may not always add up to 100%.

Some responses have been labelled as ‘non-pertinent’. These were typed responses that were deemed not understandable.