Young People and the Learning Partnerships Program: Shifting Negative Attitudes to Help-Seeking.

This article discusses research that explored the impact of the Learning Partnerships program on young people's attitudes to help-seeking. The Learning Partnerships program brings classes of high school students into universities to teach pre-service teachers and doctors how to communicate effectively with adolescents about sensitive issues such as bullying, sex, drugs and mental health. In the program, school students are positioned as contributors working with adults on issues of shared concern. The research aimed to contribute to growing knowledge about the barriers that discourage young people from seeking help from teachers and doctors, and whether these barriers may be shifted or addressed through the pedagogical approach used in Learning Partnerships. Focus groups and surveys with young people found Learning Partnerships workshops had a significant positive impact on the way in which high school students appraised the possibility that teachers and doctors could be useful sources of help. Students said workshops gave them a greater understanding and trust of both doctors and teachers, and as a result were more likely to seek help for problems affecting their own or their friend's mental, sexual or physical health. These findings have implications for the methodologies that may be useful in further addressing the barriers to help-seeking.