"Trial and Error: Unraveling Youth Care and Support"
In recent years, care and support for youth have received increasing attention in the media, policy, and politics. News reports, opinion pieces, and documentaries frequently highlight pressing financial shortages faced by national governments and local municipalities, the impact of waiting lists on clients and their relatives, rising staff shortages, high work pressure, and administrative burdens. It is increasingly emphasized that the underlying issues go beyond youth care alone. A broader societal perspective on care and support for young people underscores those various factors—such as housing, financial security, increasing performance pressure, complex parental divorces, and mental health issues—affect the demand for care and support. Addressing these challenges requires the involvement and expertise of a wide network with various expertise’s, including schools, youth workers, welfare organizations, childcare providers, sports clubs, general practitioners, youth care professionals, and specialized youth care providers.
This raises the question: how to realize such a local networked response to pressing issues in youth care and support? How can reforms in youth care contribute to this, and what else is needed beyond these reforms? It seems more important than ever to include and further explore different perspectives related to care and support for youth populations.
This year, the Health Business Week is collaborating with the Erasmus Centre for Health Management to organize an in-depth symposium on care and support for youth populations. This initiative is co-inspired by the 20th anniversary of the Erasmus Centre for Healthcare Management in 2025. The thematic symposium offers an opportunity to engage in discussions between various generations and share experiences.
Currently, the topic of care and support for the youth is only briefly covered in the Bachelor's program in Health Sciences and the Master's program in Healthcare Management. This has sparked a growing desire to learn more about what youth care and support entail, the challenges currently faced, and how those involved address these challenges. How are connections made between different domains, perspectives, and life worlds in the care and support of growing and future generations?
The symposium takes an in-depth approach. We aim to explore youth care and support from various perspectives through initiatives and stories from the field. The speakers at the symposium are experts who work in and around youth care and support. In addition to speaker presentations, interactive elements will facilitate and encourage dialogue between generations.
In short: a symposium you don’t want to miss if you want to gain a deeper understanding of care and support for the youth.