Evidence Base & Impact

“Had I not met Emerge, I would have probably attempted on my life whilst in hospital. It was extremely helpful to have a chat with them and for the first time I didn’t feel alone”

Liam, 16

Our Evidence Base.

At Emerge, the ways we interact with and support young people struggling with self-harm and emotional crises is firmly grounded in a strong evidence base and best practise. The following principles are the building blocks of how we operate at Emerge to support young people through their journey to recovery.

Youth Work Principles

Emerge’s youth workers build supportive relationships with young people where young people choose to engage, and where support and activities are decided upon based on the young person’s needs and interests. The four pillars of youth work set out by the National Youth Agency are…

Trauma Informed Care

Trauma informed care is an increasingly recognised standard of care. By using a trauma informed approach, Emerge’s team helps young people move from a fight, flight or freeze state. We help them come into a place where they can think more clearly and let people help them. The six principles of trauma informed care as defined by the UK government are…

iThrive Approach

iThrive is an approach to supporting vulnerable young people which puts the young people and their needs at the centre, and organises support based on this. Crucially, iThrive recognises the value and importance of non-clinical people being part of the picture in supporting young people, particularly those who already have a good relationship with the young person. This has opened the way for Emerge to have a greater impact within the NHS.

Co-Regulation

Co-regulation describes the way that people who are distressed can ‘catch’ a sense of peace through being with a safe person. It is underpinned by discoveries in neuroscience which show the way that our nervous systems automatically send and receive messages of safety and danger. Emerge’s team come alongside young people to bring contagious hope.

For more detailed information about the evidence base for our youth support work at Emerge, download our PDF guide…

Measuring Our Impact.

Emerge measures the impact of our support on young people using a tool called the ‘Emotional Thermometer’; a measure of hospital-based distress which is supported by evidence.

We ask young people to rate their emotional temperature at the start and end of our time with them in hospital or in follow up, with 10 being ‘HELP!’ and 1 being ‘things are cool’.

On average, young people’s emotional temperature reduces from an 8 down to a 4.

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