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Speaking Softly and Listening Hard: The Process of Involving Young Voices from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse School in Child Health Research

Author

Listed:
  • Nora Samir

    (Population Child Health, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW, Sydney 2031, Australia
    BestSTART-SWS, South Western Sydney Local Health District, NSW Health, Sydney 2031, Australia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Antonio Mendoza Diaz

    (BestSTART-SWS, South Western Sydney Local Health District, NSW Health, Sydney 2031, Australia
    Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW, Sydney 2170, Australia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Michael Hodgins

    (Population Child Health, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW, Sydney 2031, Australia)

  • Simone Matic

    (NSW Department of Education, Parramatta 2150, Australia)

  • Samira Bawden

    (NSW Department of Education, Parramatta 2150, Australia)

  • Jessica Khoury

    (NSW Department of Education, Parramatta 2150, Australia)

  • Valsamma Eapen

    (BestSTART-SWS, South Western Sydney Local Health District, NSW Health, Sydney 2031, Australia
    Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW, Sydney 2170, Australia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Raghu Lingam

    (Population Child Health, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW, Sydney 2031, Australia
    BestSTART-SWS, South Western Sydney Local Health District, NSW Health, Sydney 2031, Australia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

The involvement of young people in the planning of research continues to be rare, particularly for young people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. This paper describes our experience in establishing a Youth Research Advisory Group (YRAG) in South West Sydney (SWS), including barriers and successful strategies. One hundred and fifteen students between school Years 7 and 12 (ages 11–18) took part in at least one of five sessions between 2019 and 2021. In total, we carried out 26 YRAG sessions, with between five and 30 students in each. Sessions focused on mapping the health priorities of the participants and co-developing research project proposals related to their health priorities. Our work with students revealed that their main areas of concern were mental health and stress. This led to material changes in our research strategy, to include “Mental Health” as a new research stream and co-develop new mental health-related projects with the students. Important strategies that enabled our research included maintaining flexibility to work seamlessly with organisational and individual preferences, and ensuring our processes were directed by the schools and—most importantly—the students themselves. Strategies such as maintaining an informal context, responding rapidly to student preference, and regularly renegotiating access enabled us to engage with the students to deepen our understanding of their experiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Nora Samir & Antonio Mendoza Diaz & Michael Hodgins & Simone Matic & Samira Bawden & Jessica Khoury & Valsamma Eapen & Raghu Lingam, 2021. "Speaking Softly and Listening Hard: The Process of Involving Young Voices from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse School in Child Health Research," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-12, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5808-:d:564369
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Megan B. Irby & Keena R. Moore & Lilli Mann-Jackson & DeWanna Hamlin & Isaiah Randall & Phillip Summers & Joseph A. Skelton & Stephanie S. Daniel & Scott D. Rhodes, 2021. "Community-Engaged Research: Common Themes and Needs Identified by Investigators and Research Teams at an Emerging Academic Learning Health System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-14, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Katherine M. Boydell & Michael Hodgins, 2021. "Special Issue on “Qualitative Inquiry in Mental Health Research with Young People”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-4, June.

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