The attitudes of healthy children and researchers towards the challenges of involving children in research: an exploratory study

Abstract

Plain English summary A growing trend in research is to involve co-researchers. It is called Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) and includes three groups: the patients, the public, and the researchers. In child-inclusive research the patients are children with a medical condition while the public is represented by healthy children. Generally, the attitudes of patients and researchers are heard, while the public is often unheard. We aimed to give a voice to healthy children and researchers without prior experience in child-inclusive research to determine their attitudes towards the challenges encountered. We interviewed seven healthy children and five researchers without prior experience in child-inclusive research. Both groups thought that it is best to involve children in research from as early a stage as possible. The children saw no added value in training children to be involved in child-inclusive research. The attitudes of researchers varied on this point. Both groups thought that researchers did not require prior training on how to involve children provided they already worked with children on a day-to-day basis. Children thought a modest financial reward would be appropriate, while researchers were cautious about giving a reward. Our study indicated that both groups had clear attitudes about the challenges encountered during child-inclusive research. Young researchers could help adult researchers to find solutions to these challenges, even if they have no prior experience in child-inclusive research. Our results imply that children could be involved in the decision-making process concerning the challenges encountered in child-inclusive research.

Keywords

• Patient and public involvement
• PPI
• Children
• Child-inclusive research
• Healthy children
• Co-researchers