Healthtalkonline’s sister website – Youthhealthtalk – lets you share in young people’s experiences of health and illness. This information is based on qualitative research into patient experiences led by experts at the University of Oxford.

Arthritis

We interviewed 40 young people about their experiences of living with arthritis.  We also interviewed 10 parents about caring for a child with arthritis.The development of this arthritis module was funded by Arthritis Research UK.

Young People, Drugs and Alcohol

We have interviewed 33 young people about their experiences and opinions of recreational drugs and alcohol.

Teenage Cancer
Several types of cancer occur in young people more commonly than other types. Different cancers have different signs and symptoms. We interviewed 34 young people talking about their experiences of cancer.

Clinical trials

Well-designed clinical trials make a vital contribution to advancing medical knowledge, and so improve treatment, care and quality of life for all, including children and young people. Because children are different from adults developmentally and physiologically, clinical trials in children and young people are essential to ensure they receive appropriate, safe and effective treatments and care. When young people are invited to participate in a clinical trial it is important they understand what is involved and can make informed choices – together with their parents. In this youthhealthtalk module 32 young people share their experiences of being invited to take part in clinical trials. 

Diabetes type 1
Type 1 diabetes starts most commonly when people are young - that is anytime between the age of 2 and 20. Everyone with Type 1 diabetes must take daily insulin injections and regularly monitor their blood sugar levels. We interviewed 39 young people about their experiences of diabetes type 1.

Health and weight
We interviewed 36 young people and 9 parents of teenagers about a range of issues related to weight and health. The young people we interviewed had a range of experiences: some had been told they were overweight or were in the medical category ‘obese’, some had been diagnosed with an eating disorder (anorexia or bulimia) and some talked about the ways they managed their weight. Parents talked about their own weight issues as well as their child’s.

Epilepsy
Diagnosing epilepsy is based on both the person's clinical history and diagnostic tests. There is no single conclusive test to diagnose it. People are usually referred to a neurologist (a specialist in disorders of the brain and the nervous system), some of whom specialise in epilepsy. We have interviewed 41 young people about their experiences of living with epilepsy.

Sexual Health
Sexual health covers a wide range of subjects and issues. Both men and women worry about sexual performance, but guys are more concerned about 'doing it right', and girls are more worried about body image. There is pressure from friends, to be sexually active and knowledgeable, and to brag about sex, so men find it hard to admit if they don't know much about sex . We interviewed 41 young people about their experiences of sexual health.

Long term health conditions
We interviewed 30 young people with chronic diseases who had been diagnosed at birth or when they were a few months old, as well as others who were told about their illness when they were children or in their teens and one young woman who was diagnosed in her early twenties. We talked to young people who had been diagnosed with the following chronic conditions: asthma, chronic eczema, chronic pain, congenital heart problems, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, juvenile arthritis, kidney disease, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ ME), morphea, muscular dystrophy, sickle cell disease, scoliosis and type 1 diabetes.

Depression and low mood
Depression can be difficult to recognise, and it can manifest differently for different people making it hard to identify. Here young people talk about their early experiences of depression and low mood and how it all started. Many described a gradual and escalating process of things “not being quite right” over some years, others could pinpoint specific incidents which had triggered depression. We have interviewed 39 young people about their experiences of depression and low mood.

Eating disorders

On this website young people talk about their experiences of living with, and recovering from, an eating disorder. Their experiences include different degrees of disordered eating, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, EDNOS (Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified), binge eating and ED-DMT1 (‘diabulimia’). We interviewed 10 men and 29 women for this project.