Children and young people’s expert advisory groups

Who is it for?

Researchers facilitating children or young people’s advisory groups or expert groups

Overview:

One approach to involving children and young people meaningfully throughout the research process is by establishing children and young people’s expert advisory groups, which position children and young people as expert consultants to advise the project or an element of it (see Houghton 2018; Collins et al. 2020). Children and young people’s expert advisory groups can become sites for co-reflexivity through which researchers and participants critically reflect on research practice and challenges (Moore et al. 2016).

Aims of children and young people’s expert advisory groups can include prioritising research topics from their perspectives, contributing insight and advice on research methods, supporting analysis and formation of findings, and recommending effective means of dissemination (Collins et al. 2020), or actively leading impact activities throughout (Houghton 2018). This can both benefit the research as well as enhance the skills and empowerment of the children and young people, and adults, who participate.

Establishing a children and young people’s expert advisory group was central to the early stages of CAFADA – alongside an advisory group of women. The project team invited children and young people with lived experience of domestic abuse, and related support services, to inform aspects of the project design and ethics. Expert advisory groups were brought together through online workshops to advise on three elements of the CAFADA project:

how best to involve children and families in CAFADA research
how to ensure the research project was sensitive to survivors
how to ensure researchers ‘ask the right questions in the right way’[1].

A crucial component of this work was the role of partnership agencies through whom children and young people were engaged. Staff from partnership agencies (third sector specialist domestic abuse services) attended advisory group meetings to support children and young people and provided a point of contact and follow up support for the work.

[1] Language used in information sheet for expert group members

Key strengths:

Young expert advisory groups help to ensure that research plans and designs are sensitive and responsive to the needs of the particular groups of children and young people who a wider research project may seek to engage. Where young expert advisory groups have authority to co-produce research questions and tools or inform research processes such as analysis or knowledge exchange, they can help enhance levels of engagement; help deepen knowledge and widen research influence – alongside building their own skills and knowledge.

Key challenges:

Early workshops may need to focus heavily on helping young expert advisors understand their role, before the work of that role can start. For example it may take time to differentiate the role of advising on research processes from taking part in research as participants. Further challenges may be linked to the degree to which wider research stakeholders are able or willing to let young expert advisory groups inform their practice. At the outset of a project it is valuable to identify specific mechanisms or ‘time points’ where lessons from young expert advisory groups will feed into research design and identify parameters around this.

Questions to consider:

• What are the aims for the children and young people’s expert advisory group?
• What role will children and young people take – and what is the potential and limits of their influence within the project?
• What are the potential benefits of the expert advisory group: for children and young people; and for the project?
• How will you evaluate the process and impact of the group(s)?

Example Expert Advisory Group Session Outline

Example advisory group role and engagement protocol

Participation Workshop Planning Checklist

Example Expert Advisory Group Timeline

Key lessons from our expert advisory groups

I liked the idea of being involved in something that will bring about positive change “ (Member of Young Expert Group)

“I think it is harder to make things fun when it is online zoom calls – sometimes the zoom call felt very work based. I know a lot was achieved though. A fun outing after or in between work would have been good too. Face to face is definitely better for work related activities being fun” as well. (Member of Young Expert Group)

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