Implementing a healthy lifestyle program in residential out‐of‐home care : what matters, what works and what translates?

The Healthy Eating, Active Living Matters (HEALing Matters) program is being scaled up across residential out-of-home care (OOHC) in Victoria, Australia and is providing young people with the knowledge, skills and resources to promote better health through healthy eating and activity. HEALing Matters was piloted as the HEAL program, a dual-intervention program that aimed to provide young people living in residential care with education and opportunities to improve their eating and physical activity habits, while simultaneously building the capacity of their carers to promote, encourage and role model healthy lifestyle behaviours. Qualitative findings indicated that HEAL resulted in increased participation in community sport, increased availability of sports equipment, healthy meal preparation and healthy food availability and improvements in perceived young person self-esteem and independent living skills. Findings also revealed some limitations of the program. Following the pilot, a participatory methodological approach was used to better understand how to align the HEAL program with individual and community needs. This approach engaged diverse stakeholders to better understand the barriers and enablers, address limitations, identify key intervention points and build trust and a shared vision to co-design the HEALing Matters program. HEALing Matters is now delivered within a framework that is informed by attachment, trauma and resilience theories. This paper outlines the HEALing Matters journey from what matters, to what works, to what translates in relation to a healthy eating and active living intervention in OOHC

‘I’m dealing with all these health issues that could have been addressed when I was younger’ : delivery of health services to Australian young people in out‐of‐home care : lived experiences

Care-experienced young people demonstrate significantly poor physical, social and mental health outcomes during and beyond their time in care, yet they have rarely been consulted or included in research examining their health needs to date. This qualitative paper explores care-experienced young people's perceptions of health in care, including accessing healthcare and interacting with health professionals. The research methodology was informed by a co-design approach through consultation with care-experienced young people. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 young people. The findings revealed that: (1) the care system does not nurture young people's health; (2) young people in care experience difficulty accessing and navigating a complex health system; and (3) young people are not given a voice when it comes to their health. The findings provide key recommendations for practice, including the empowerment of young people through positive, responsive and trusting relationships to prioritise the health of young people in care