Search Results for: young people

The Young People in Psych Research Group: helping scientists iMAGine better research for self-harm

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series PPI Awards: Round 4 ReportsThis entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

In conversation with: Dr Martina Di Simplicio, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, and Rachel Rodrigues, PhD Student. Working within the Mood Instability Research Group, Centre for Psychiatry, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London.

What did you do?

Our research project called iMAGine looks at the psychological processes contributing to maintenance of self-harm behaviour in young people, including whether aspects of ‘reward’ or positive reinforcement underlie self-harm. From the very start of the study, we’ve been collaborating with a group of six young people (17 to 25-year-olds) with and without experience of self-harm.

‘Health Research Matters’: Co-production in young people’s health research

To kick off the Autumn series of our ‘Health Research Matters’ lunchtime seminar series, we brought together two speakers to share their experience of co-production with young people:

  • Dr Christina Atchison, talked about ‘Adolescents 360‘, a project that used human-centred design to co-produce context-specific reproductive health programming initiatives with adolescents in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania; and
  • Matt Walsham, from Partnership for Young London, who shared insight into working with young people on research across the voluntary sector

In case you weren’t able to attend, and as a reminder for those who did, here are some of the key take home messages from the two presentations, followed by the main discussion points and links to further reading.

Pandemics, infodemics and the impact on people like you (and me)

By Professor Helen Ward, Patient Experience Research Centre, Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London.

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns … of all the one-horse towns … why did this virus have to come to mine?”

The words of my friend Paul who is living in an Italian town under lockdown because of the novel coronavirus epidemic. His frustration is palpable as his plans for travel, work and social life were put on hold for at least two weeks (and subsequently extended for another three). But he reasons, “despite the fact that it’s not a killer disease, we can’t all go around with pneumonia.

Involving parents and carers in research about children’s healthcare experiences during covid-19

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

In conversation with: Dr Kimberley Foley , a Postdoctoral Research Associate working within the Child Health Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health. Imperial College London

What did you do?

We invited parents and carers to a 2-hour online forum to share their experiences of accessing healthcare services for their children during the Covid-19 lockdown. Our research uses anonymised patient data collected from GP practices from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink in the UK. Our work is specifically looking at the number of times children and young people contacted their GP (in March to June 2020) compared to previous years.

Involving Year One students to help shape research into physical activity and child health

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

In conversation with: Dr Bina Ram, Postdoctoral Research Associate working within the Child Health Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College, London

What is your research about and what did you do?

Our research is the iMprOVE cohort study which is investigating children’s physical activity and mental health in primary schools that do and do not implement physical activity interventions. Regular physical activity is known to have many health benefits but only half of children in England meet the recommended guidelines of 60 minutes of physical activity per day.

Involving teenagers in research about the environment and mental health

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

In conversation with: Rhiannon Thompson, PhD student working within the Imperial College Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the SCAMP study

What did you do? 

As part of my PhD project, I wanted to find out more about how adolescents are affected by their physical environments (their thoughts and feelings about urban and rural places, buildings and traffic, greenspace, nature, noise, etc). To begin with, I recruited 12 teenagers for a project design workshop where we brainstormed ideas for how this question could be answered.

Case study #17: ITP – Immune Thrombocytopenia or Involve The Patient!

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

Dr Alice Hart, Clinical Research Fellow, Immune Haematology, Centre for Haematology

Twenty-eight people attended our patient involvement event sponsored by the Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) PPI grant scheme at the Hilton hotel. This included eight patients (aged 2-16) with Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP), their parents/siblings and members of the non-malignant haematology research group – doctors, scientists, clinical nurses, research nurses and a research coordinator.

We started with a science entertainer doing fun experiments, like making dry ice bubbles, with the children to set the ball rolling. The children really enjoyed it – two told us they want to be scientists when they grow up!

Supporting schools to participate in research on children’s physical activity and wellbeing

In conversation with: Dr Bina Ram, Postdoctoral Research Associate working within the Child Health Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London

What did you do?

I am leading the iMprOVE study which is examining physical activity of Year 1 children (aged 5-6 years) in Greater London primary schools. The main aim of the study is to compare differences in children’s physical activity across schools that do and do not implement a school based active mile intervention called (which involves children running or jogging for 15 minutes at least three times a week during the school day), whilst also examining its effect on children’s mental health and educational performance.