Making the most of motivations: why young people attend advisory groups
Kailo is a new approach to supporting young people's mental health. It aims to help local communities, young people and public services better understand and address the social contexts which can impact young people's mental health.
To support the development of Kailo, a team of researchers have been leading a developmental evaluation to explore how and why Kailo works, for whom and in what situations. Two Young People’s Advisory Groups (YPAGs) have been supporting the Kailo evaluation. Young people aged 16 to 25 years old. These members either have lived experience of receiving mental health supoport, or are interested in improving support in their local area.
Over the last year, CORC have led Young People’s Advisory Groups in North Devon and Newham, to help shape the evaluation of the Kailo project. The groups supported the research team through a range of activities, including co-facilitating focus groups, sense-checking and shaping analysis, and developing social media materials, as well as receiving bespoke research training.
During the project, the young people chose to co-write a guide about what motivates young people to get involved in research, to support other researchers or professionals who are setting up advisory groups and to share their personal experiences and motivations.
The guide is available here.
Making the most of motivations, by Kailo Evaluation YPAG members
You can hear more about why young people get involved in mental health research at our CORC forum on 21 November 2024, where our Participation in Research Officer, Rachael Stemp, will talk more about how this guide was developed.
You can also find information on our Young People section of our website, for enabling young people participation. Young people have the right to influence the mental health support they receive, so it's essential that young people’s voices are central to support for their mental health.