How we work

The Liverpool YPAG was set up in 2006 and currently has 22 members aged between 9-21 yrs old. Members either have experience of taking part in health research, have experience of living with a condition or disability, or have a general interest in learning about medicine/research/science.

The group is funded by the NIHR Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust Clinical Research Facility (CRF) and forms a major part of the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) activities highlighted in our PPIE Strategy for 2022-2027.

Our meetings are held approximately every four weeks online, with four face-to-face meetings per year. Meetings take place at the University of Liverpool and other locations across the city.

For young people interested in joining the group:

For more information about the group, read our new leaflet.  If you are interested in joining the group please complete the following Application Form to explain why you would like to be a member of the group.  You will then need to read and sign the Young Person’s Agreement Form so that you fully understand the role and what to expect from staff.  Following this you will be invited to attend the next meeting planned and you will be buddied up with an older or long-term member of the group to help you understand how the group works.

For researchers wanting to collaborate with the group:

The first thing to do is contact the group facilitator to discuss your requirements and so that the facilitator can explain the process of accessing the group, what to expect, preparation prior to the meeting and so on.  Each group may work slightly differently so this conversation is important.  Once you have decided which group is best to access (this might depend on meeting dates and availability?) you will be then asked to sign a Researcher Agreement Form similar to the Young Person’s Agreement Form, which sets out very clearly what to expect from the group and what we expect in return.  We strongly encourage researchers to attend the meetings face to face so that effective dialogue can be achieved but this can’t always be achievable so facilitators are happy to present your study to the group for review.  Several weeks after the consolation has taken place the facilitator will contact you to gain some feedback as to what happened as a result of the young people’s input, for example, did anything change to the protocol or patient information sheet as a result of the groups comments and did this go through ethics without any problems?  This is really important as it demonstrates the impact of young people’s role in the design and delivery of paediatric research.

For further information contact jennifer.preston@liverpool.ac.uk or jenny.ainsworth@liverpool.ac.uk

Dates of our next meetings are:

Liverpool YPAG members