CHEER
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Children's Experiences of Engaging in Research
IRAS ID
159898
Contact name
Shirlene Badger
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Over the past decade there has been a growing call in health research to involve children and develop a more ‘child centred’ approach (Gilchrist et al. 2013). INVOVLE (http://www.invo.org.uk/), the Department of Health national advisory group supporting greater public involvement in research, lists numerous health policy documents that emphasise the importance and value of involving the public, including children, in research (Hanely et al. 2004, Kirby 2004). Literature evidence of applying these recommendations in practice however, is limited. Anecdotal or internet searches would suggest standing advisory groups, reference groups or children's boards are one of the more common methods employed within the health and health research setting to enable children’s voices to be heard and get them more involved.
Despite the relative commonness of children's advisory groups or boards, few publications have examined the children’s experiences of participating in these groups or whether the they perceive participating as valuable. Furthermore, few studies have looked at children's experiences of taking part in clinical research.
The CHEER pilot project seeks to address our limited knowledge of children’s experiences of advisory groups and clinical research participation. This protocol sets out a phased, scoping programme of work centred on the Non-Executive Children’s Board at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) / Welcome Trust Cambridge Clinical Research Facility (CRF). The aims are:
•To review the literature regarding children’s participation in advisory groups and clinical research
•To explore children’s perspectives of participating in a children’s board
•To explore parent and staff members perspectives of the children’s board
•To explore children’s perspectives of involvement in clinical research as both participants and healthy volunteers.The methods employed will be in-depth interviews with the children's board members with observation work to support the interview findings.
REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1364
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion