Involving children and young people in research: The usual suspects?

2014 Conference

Abstract:

• How inclusive is public involvement with children and young people? Who gets involved, and who doesn’t?
• How can we best involve a wide range of children and young people in health and social care research?

There is increasing interest in children and young people’s involvement in health, public health and social care research. In early 2013 People and Research West of England decided to create a forum for researchers involving children and young people in research and/or interested in public involvement with children and young people. This presentation will briefly explore some of the issues emerging from these discussions before giving the example of a study in which the presenters are currently supporting young people’s involvement:

The ‘Youth Social Behaviour and Network Therapy Study’ (YSBNT) is a 30 month project, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme, which is adapting an intervention (way of delivering services) which was originally developed for adults, so that it can be used with young people using drug and alcohol services and their families. The study is also looking at how best to involve young people who don’t normally get involved in research, in this case young people who have experience of using drug and alcohol services. In this presentation we will explore what we are learning about involving young people who are not ‘the usual suspects’ from the perspective of the young people involved, the people supporting their involvement and the wider research team.