What’s the project?
This March, a research team led by Anna Sullivan Jones, Head of Experience and Service User & Carer Voice based at the Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Trust are planning to apply for funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to carry out some research, and would like two young people to come on board as co-applicants, to help advise and shape the research project.
The research, the team would like to conduct is around how different people, respond differently to the same medication. This research has already been done for medication that is used to treat cancer and heart conditions, which means in those areas of healthcare, doses of medications can be tailored to suit the needs of different people.
However, this research still needs to be done for medication that is used to treat mental health conditions. This will be the target of their research, and the research team are focusing specifically on prescribing of medication to children and young people and how they respond to them. Their ultimate aim is to make medication as effective and personalised as possible for children and young people, and this research will hopefully inform them how to do this.
Find out more
As a co-applicant your role will be to help the team design how to take on this research so that we have the best succeeding in our research aims.
The research team are looking for two young people aged between 14-18 to be involved at all stages of the research project from design to implementation (if funding is granted). This will involve helping to shape the NIHR funding bid, by using your lived experience of being prescribed medication for your mental health to help shape the research to be as impactful as possible. This proposal will be submitted at the start of April and there will be around 3 meetings, up until bid submission. If the bid is successful, then the opportunity will continue with your involvement in the research project throughout its lifecycle.
- Be aged between 14-18
- Must be based in the UK
- Stable internet connection
- Lived experience of being prescribed a medication for your mental health, for example an antidepressant.
So that we can pay you, you would need to go through the Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS ‘Expert by Experience’ onboarding process.
- Payment at rate of £12/hour
- Payment of travel expenses where needed (e.g. if we ask you to attend a meeting or event in person)
- Regular catch-ups with fellow young person on the project and Trust Research Lead
If you are interested in this opportunity, please email [email protected] with brief answers to the following questions:
- What is your name?
- Are you based in the UK?
- Why are you interested in this opportunity?
- What skills, experiences and knowledge do you think you could bring to the project?
- Sometimes after talking about topics like mental health, people feel they need a little extra support or someone to chat to. What support do you currently have in place (e.g. supportive friends, family, health professionals or mental health charities)? Is there anything that our Trust could do to support you or make your involvement experience better?
- How did you hear about this opportunity?
You are welcome to send your responses in audio or video format if preferred. If you need any help completing your expression of interest, you can get in touch with [email protected]
Midnight on Sunday 9th March 2025.
Please note that the McPin Foundation regularly promotes opportunities on behalf of other institutions; we are not responsible for the continuation or contents of further correspondence with any project partners where we are not listed as the project main point of contact.
