As the EXCITE project closes, YPAG member and experienced co-researcher Tom shares his takeaways and advice on getting involved in, and working with, young people in research.
Tom Sharpe
As an experienced peer researcher every project you work on is different. Each project requires you to draw upon different experiences of services and life events.
Walking into the room you don’t know exactly what to expect but there are strategies that can help projects run smoother – through this blog I’d like to highlight examples of these and how they were applied across the EXCITE project.
What was the project about?
EXCITE was a year-long project which facilitated a collaboration between The Young Foundation, McPin and the Institute for Mental Health, University of Birmingham (IMH).
Within the project, we set out to develop understandings of barriers and facilitators to progressing existing youth involvement efforts within the IMH, with the aim of producing outputs that would inform future practice and the development of an IMH Youth Involvement Strategy.
Who was involved and how?
At the heart of our project goals was giving peer researcher training to six members of the IMH Youth Advisory Group (YAG) – a group of experts by experience aged 18-25.
The training was delivered by the Young Foundation with the support of experienced peer researchers from McPin, who shared first-hand experience of being involved in the delivery of research.
IMH YAG members conducted focus groups with members of the IMH research team and newly recruited YAG members to help understand the barriers and facilitators to progression of existing research practices.
The findings are currently being implemented into the development of new resources to enhance practice (e.g. Terms of Reference, Terms of Engagement, Training Resources).
Three IMH PhD students worked closely with the team throughout, providing the opportunity to engage in youth involvement in a supported space.
Learnings from the project
On the EXCITE project I was able to further develop my leadership, mentoring and presentation skills through running the sessions and interacting with the YAG.
A key highlight was providing insights to the PhD research students about incorporating young people in their research from the start. I have gathered my reflections below, which can be applied to the wider research world.
Collaboration in research is key
By bringing together diverse voices at different stages of their research careers, the project aimed to both develop the skills of all stakeholders and take a unique, wide-ranging approach to the project.
In doing so, we were also able to capture a wide range of views, collaborate more effectively, and provide experience rarely seen in the world of research, particularly for the PhD students.
One example of adaptability and integration within EXCITE was the prioritisation of relationship building.
We were able to get together in a room, eat, and share our reflections on the ways in which youth involvement was positive, helpful and successful across the range of projects we had been involved with, as well as the elements that were challenging, and barriers to successful research.
The opportunity for the PhD students to be in a supported space with young experts by experience and co-researchers was rare in the research world, but we felt it was important for them to gain experience and understanding of the value young people can bring to research projects.
The project's approach of integrating the YAG with partners and the research team enabled us to create a relaxed environment where the young people being trained could provide honest, thought-through feedback on the training sessions.
Think about co-production early
I think this is particularly important at the moment, as it encourages researchers to think about co-production early on in their careers and naturally build it into projects.
At an early stage of a project, it can be more impactful, and they can adapt more easily, answering key questions and challenges the researchers themselves may not have considered fully.
The project’s approach of integrating the YAG with partners and the research team enabled us to create a relaxed environment where the young people being trained could provide honest, thought-through feedback on the training sessions.
This resulted in adapting the sessions’ approach to make them more collaborative, change the times they occurred and provide customised support for the young people to get the most out of the project.
This adaptability was crucial in ensuring ongoing stakeholder participation, session engagement, and effective strategy collaboration.
The project maintained the young people’s attention and interest as it allowed them to work with a wider range of stakeholders than they often did and shape the future research they would go on to be involved in.
If the team had not been this adaptable, and had not put in the work to build relationships at the start of the project, it would have been challenging to ask for and gain honest feedback, maintain engagement and provide genuine development.
My advice to young people would be to incorporate regular reflective practice into your work, taking time to reflect either individually or with other YAG members about your achievements, development, and growth.
Advice and resources for future projects involving young people
Advice for young people interested in research
As part of the project, we conducted frequent reflection from teams about their input into the work.
My advice to young people would be to incorporate regular reflective practice into your work, taking time to reflect either individually or with other YAG members about your achievements, development, and growth. This will help with your continued progression as co-researchers.
I passionately believe that, based on this project, more research should budget time and space to bring researchers into a room where they can build genuine connections and trust.
This is important for all researchers, and particularly young people, to develop the confidence that young people will be listened to and cared for. It also demonstrates that the benefits of spending time on the quality of the research far outweigh the cost.
For researchers at all stages
I highly recommend reading the resources that McPin and the IMH developed as part of a previous collaboration. Whether you are a seasoned researcher integrating co-production into every project, a research coordinator just starting out, or an early career researcher wondering what the hype is, they simply and practically guide you through co-production and how to do it well.
I hope through these reflections and the other resources from McPin, you can see the value of co-production done well and the positive impact it can have on progressing mental health research.
If you are a researcher interested in this space, why not contact McPin or the IMH and discuss the research you’re currently involved in and find out more about the impact meaningful youth involvement can have.
Other resources you should check out
