Migrant children and young people's 'voice' in healthcare

This chapter addresses the issue of children and young people's participation and 'voice' in healthcare provision, in the wider context of their inclusion in social and political life and with a focus on young people who have migrated to the UK with their families. While children and young people's participation in decisions that affect their lives is stipulated as a right through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), public services still vary in their commitment and established mechanisms for including children and young people's views in improving provision. The chapter draws on research with Eastern European migrant children newly arrived in the UK in relation to experiences of healthcare provision post-migration. The main focus is on their views of health service provision, the barriers they face in relation to health service use and the strategies migrant families adopt to overcome perceived shortcomings in provision, including adopting a transnational use of health services.