Patient Journeys
Our Patient/Carer stories & voices page documents stories about patient health journeys from children, young people with special needs, mental or medical disorders, their siblings and Carers. The stories provide motivating insights into experiences of patients and carers when journeying through the healthcare system.
Stories of siblings of patients also provide insight into the impact of a disorder on siblings of child patients.
Patient (children) drawings and stories
Writings, drawings, podcasts and videos submitted by patients (children), delivers insight into stories they want to communicate about their experiences to Healthcare Professionals supporting and caring for them.
Patient stories can enhance voices of vulnerable children and result in creating more understanding about feelings of patients and those closest to them whilst contributing to life-long learning in Health Professionals and how to effectively communicate with patients (children). The page also encourages children and their siblings to freely express themselves about their condition and impact of a disorder.
Submitting stories, drawings and videos (FAQs)
Who can participate?
- Children and young people with special needs, neurodevelopmental/mental health disorders or have a diagnosed medical condition. We also encourage children with vision, hearing and other sensory impairments to participate.
- Children and Young people with experience of the Healthcare system (current/previous) as a result of a diagnosed health, mental or neurodevelopmental condition for example Autism and ADHD.
- Siblings of children diagnosed with a mental, neurodevelopmental or medical condition.
- Carers with a child with special needs, including intellectual disability or health/mental condition requiring input from a Health Professional.
Should the story only be about experiencing the healthcare system?
- You or your child/both can submit a story, drawing/photo, podcast or video about your experiences in the healthcare system, with the aim that, your story may contribute to helping Healthcare workers deliver better quality of care.
- Carers can support their child to submit a fictional or factual story or drawing about their condition or related. Your child’s name will be published as the author and Carers required to provide signed written consent before a submission is published.
- All submissions should have no identifiable names of people or Organisations. Following providing consent, submissions would be vetted before publication on our website.
- School Doctor will contact you if your submission has been successful.
How long should submissions be?
- Stories should be between 100-400 words. Video and podcast submissions should be between 1 to 5 minutes. You may also submit a single photo or drawing instead of a story.
How long will submissions be displayed for?
- We aim to keep submissions on our website as long as possible, as they are a valuable resource for healthcare professionals and students. You may however contact us to remove your submission if you no longer want this displayed.
Does it cost to display submissions?
- It is free to submit stories to School Doctor. You will however be enrolled on our subscriber list for discounted courses, educational materials and other resources. You will be able to unsubscribe at any time.
