Exploring the “how” in research partnerships with young partners by experience: lessons learned in six projects from Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Plain English summary In more and more projects, researchers and young people are working together in partnership; but there is little guidance about how to organize this partnership. In this paper, we share what partnerships in six projects from Canada, Netherlands, and United Kingdom looked like, so that others can be inspired. To do so, a researcher and a young partner from each project were asked to together: (1) describe their project, (2) summarize the practical details about the collaboration and (3) think about things that went well or could be improved. We found that all projects had the same beliefs important to partnerships, like having respect for each other. Young people could work on parts of the project they liked in a way that worked for them. They were supported by staff, could join meetings and were appreciated for their work. Clear communication during and in-between meetings was helpful. Youth were often asked about the role they wanted in the project. While there was often no formal training on how to do research, there were many opportunities to learn. We offer six recommendations to researchers and young people who want to partner together: (1) It is okay to not know what the partnership will look like and there is no single recipe of how to partner; (2) Take your time; (3) Discuss how the partnership is going; (4) Think about who is doing what and why; (5) Consider the diversity of young partners. We hope others will share their experiences.

Keywords

• Involvement
• Partnership
• Disability research
• Young people
• Adolescents and young adults
• Participatory research