- About the RCPCH Engagement Academy
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Children and young people should have the best health care possible. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, they have the right to influence decisions affecting their care and to be supported to be healthy, happy and well.
The RCPCH Engagement Academy offers a wide range of resources, guidance, coaching and bespoke packages to help child health services and organisations effectively and confidently involve children, young people and their families.
Engaging adolescents and young adults in your health research: ethical practice in action - two sessions, online
Are you leading research about young people’s health and keen to involve young people in your work but faced with some tricky dilemmas? In this course you'll learn about taking an ethical practice in participation and engagement work with young people.
Delivered by the Association of Young People's Health
10 and 11 December (mornings), online
Engaging with children and young people - full-day, in person
Looking to involve children and young people in quality improvement, service design or giving feedback on the experiences with your service? Not sure where to start?
This course brings together our skills, expertise and knowledge from delivering child and youth engagement programmes with 16,000 under-25s over the past 10 years. We've done this through our programme, RCPCH &Us, in which children and young people have helped inform and shape health policy and practice on topics like mental health, sickle cell, diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, climate change, health inequalities and service design.
This course offers a mix of theory and practical guidance on how to do engagement with children and young people from different ages, backgrounds, stages and experiences. It will support you to feel confident in engagement planning, share different types of engagement approaches and test out using them practically as well as looking at how to apply legal frameworks to engagement activities with children and young people. We’ll share resources and tips, and there will be plenty of opportunities for interactive learning.
Last delivered: September 2025
More dates coming in 2026
Talk, Trust, Treat: Getting adolescent and young adults health right - two half-days, online
Want to ensure your services and health support is engaging for adolescents and young adults? Not sure how to adapt your approach for the needs of this age range?
In this two-session course, you'll gain a greater understanding of the needs and barriers to care for adolescents and young adults. You'll explore how you develop trust and open communications, manage risk and support young people’s rights within your service and individual practice.
By the end of the course, you'll know more about the unique physical and mental health needs of adolescent and young adults, in particular how health inequalities are experienced by this age range and how key developments such as puberty and adolescent brain development interface with service provision.
The course is led by Association for Young People’s health and is co-designed and co-delivered with young people with lived experience of health services and long term health conditions. You must attend both sessions to complete the course.
Last delivered: October 2025More dates coming in 2026
Group facilitation for youth engagement - two days, in person
Do you want to sharpen up your workshop facilitation skills? Would you like to support the young people you work with to gain confidence in facilitation? This course allows you to understand and practice the components in designing and delivering a safe, fun and creative workshop for young people and/or the professionals that work with them.
Delivered by the Association of Young People's Health
More dates coming in 2026Safer working practices for engagement - half day, online
This course provides the foundations for creating safe engagement activities, covering consent, risk assessments, staff ratios and expertise, wellbeing assessments, information governance and how to create a meaningful and appropriate, rights-based engagement space.
It includes tips from engagement experts, children and young people and it links to relevant legislation, resource hubs and further guidance.
Delivered by the RCPCH Children and Young People's Engagement team
Get in touch to request a session with your team or service or to join the expression of interest list
Strategic planning for engagement - full day, online or in person
This course helps you plan for engagement, looking at the vision and values for engagement, exploring the context and developing your offer to deliver and evaluate. We'll take you through the motivators for attendees, and how to recruit participants and meet their needs and yours. And we'll work through opportunities and challenges together.
The course also includes examples of engagement activities with application to your engagement intentions.
Delivered by the RCPCH Children and Young People's Engagement team
Get in touch to request a session with your team or service or to join the expression of interest list
Introduction to children's rights - half-day, online
This course explores the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child in the context of engagement in improving child health services, looking at what Article 12 (voice) and Article 24 (health) and their associated general comments, alongside emerging areas such as digital rights, the climate crisis and the interplay between rights.
It links to best practice from the Children's Commissioners and UNICEF, providing links to further your learning and development.
Delivered by the RCPCH Children and Young People's Engagement team
Get in touch to request a session with your team or service or to join the expression of interest list
Addressing health inequalities amongst young people
This course develops your understanding of health inequalities and how they are experienced by young people aged 10-25. It draws on the latest data and young people’s experiences to provide you with expert knowledge on health inequalities.
Delivered by the Association of Young People's Health
Get in touch to request a session with your team or service or to join the expression of interest list
Youth mental health first aid - two days, in person OR four sessions, online
This online course trains you as a Youth Mental Health First Aider (MHFAider®), giving you an in-depth understanding of young people’s mental health and factors that affect wellbeing and the ability to support a young person with a long term mental health issue or disability to thrive.
Delivered by the Association of Young People's Health
Get in touch to request a session with your team or service or to join the expression of interest list
Express your interest
Interested in these courses but can't make the date? Complete our quick form to indicate your interest and we'll email you when that course next goes live.