Background: The involvement of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with lived experience of health and mental health conditions as partners in research is increasing given the prominence of participatory approaches to research, including patient-oriented research (POR). Much of the relevant research is conducted by graduate students. While guiding AYA engagement frameworks and models exist, the processes of partnering with AYAs in patient-oriented graduate-level research projects have not been well established. Co-developed tools and practices are required to support strengths-based, developmentally appropriate AYA-graduate student partnerships.
Objectives: The objectives of this commentary are: (1) to share the processes of partnership between a graduate student and five Young Adult Research Partners (YARP), (2) to describe the co-design and implementation of the Strengths, Skills, and Goals Matrix (SSGM), a tool for facilitating strengths-based AYA engagement in research, and (3) to outline considerations for applying this tool across a variety of research contexts with patient partners.
Main body: Within the YARP-graduate student partnership, the SSGM offered extensive benefits, including tangible skill development, peer mentorship, and rapport building among all members. This tool offers strategies for strengths-based engagement practices which emphasize AYAs' preferences and goals throughout POR projects. Practical recommendations and considerations for applying the SSGM within graduate-level research and beyond are described, including the importance of connecting AYAs' current (and desired) skills to specific tasks within the research project and resulting outputs.
Conclusions: The SSGM has possible relevance in a variety of settings given its broadly applicable structure. Future research could explore the adaptation, application, and evaluation of the SSGM across research contexts to determine its feasibility and ease of implementation.
Patient or public contribution: This article was conceived of and co-authored by five young adult research partners. The YARP co-designed the SSGM presented in this article, the figures, and substantially contributed to the preparation of the article.
Keywords: Adolescents and young adults; Graduate-level research; Patient engagement; Patient-oriented research; Peer mentorship.
The involvement of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with lived experience of health and mental health conditions as partners in research is becoming more common in student research projects. Though guidelines for engaging AYAs as partners in research exist, the steps for developing meaningful AYA-student partnerships are not clearly defined. These partnerships require tools and practices that are co-developed by AYAs and students to be successful. In this commentary, we share the details of a partnership between a graduate student and five AYA research partners. Next, we describe how we developed the Strengths, Skills, and Goals Matrix (SSGM), a tool for supporting AYA engagement in research which emphasizes the capabilities and goals of each AYA partner. Finally, we outline suggestions for patient partners and research teams interested in using this tool in different settings. Within our research partnership, the SSGM helped all members build relationships, develop skills, and share their skills with one another. The SSGM focuses on the strengths of each person and allows patient partners to determine their own goals for engaging in research. Future research should explore how the SSGM works for different types of research teams or projects.
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