Team: Abigail Thomson (Principal Investigator), Dr Georgina Hosang, Dr Megan Armstrong
Background: It is widely understood that young people should be involved in mental health research that affects them. When young people are meaningfully included at all stages of a research project, it improves the reliability and the impact of this research, ensuring it aligns with the values and experiences of young people in the community. Whilst the benefits of involving young people in research are established, more work is needed to ensure that young people from underrepresented backgrounds (e.g. minority ethnic groups) are able to contribute and give their voice to the decisions that affect their lives. Increased representation of diverse young people in mental health research is essential to reduce inequalities and ensure that research has benefits for all. The additional challenges and motivators that underrepresented communities of young people experience in engaging in mental health research are not fully understood. It is unclear whether existing practical recommendations for youth involvement in research are relevant for these communities.
This project aims to develop tools so that the voices and experiences of all young people are placed at the centre of mental health research. We wish to collaborate with researchers and young people aged 16-25 living in London to develop these tools.
More information for researchers:
We invite youth-focused mental health researchers working in Greater London to take part in a focus group discussion to discuss some of the motivators, challenges, and concerns of involving young people in research. We are particularly interested in discussing ways we can better support researchers to meaningfully involve underrepresented young people across the research cycle – from design to dissemination.
Finally, we plan to hold an event with young people and researchers to finalise and share resources developed during this project.
More information for young people:
We wish to collaborate with young people aged 16-25 as equal partners in the research process to develop these tools. We are especially interested in working with young people from underrepresented backgrounds (e.g. minority ethnic groups) whose voices are rarely heard within research. We invite young people to take part in a series of focus group discussions to:
To find out more about this project or to get involved, please contact Abi a.c.thomson@qmul.ac.uk