Background

Young people (16-25 years old) are often not involved in designing or producing the very research that is about them. In fact, public contributors who help inform and design research are often from older age groups. Even when young people are included it’s usually during the early stages of research instead of across the entire research pathway.

One of the reasons young people aren’t able to have a say is because they may not have an understanding of what involvement is and what it entails. They might also need resources and training on research methods to prepare them for getting involved in research studies. While NIHR ARC GM has previously created tools and materials around research methods, including a training course and research handbook, we wanted something that was more suitable for a younger audience.

And so ‘Bridge the Gap’ was created, by 8 young adults who formed a team called the Young Peoples’ Working Group (YPWG). ‘Bridge the Gap’ is an initiative to provide an understanding of involvement and research methods to young people through a podcast and accompanying tools. With short episodes that break down research terms and methods, the podcast is easily accessible for a busy young audience that may not have time to read a book or take a course. While it’s about sharing research knowledge, the YPWG also decided to focus on what they believe appeals to young people:

Why young people should care about involvement and research
How involvement is likely to impact young people
What different involvement experiences and journeys can look like.

Each episode is under 20 minutes and supplemented with:

A glossary of technical terms defined by the YPWG for easy understanding
Optional quiz questions to test your knowledge as you listen along
Relevant references
Written summaries for those who may not be able to tune into episodes.

Episodes

The Young Peoples’ Working Group (YPWG)

The YPWG was established in 2022 and is made up of a group of young adults (18-25 years old) who have been previously involved in contributing to health research.

They were recruited from existing research advisory groups and external organisations for young people (eg. McPin Foundation).

The YPWG worked alongside a research associate and research assistant to create resources to inform young people about involvement and research methods.

The YPWG contributed by:

Taking part in 10 workshops to determine the format and content of the resources, in which they decided on a podcast, its structure, and any supplementary tools. They also developed skills they requested to create a podcast, including script writing, interviewing techniques, and recording and editing with podcasting software.
Taking part in 10 workshops that trained them on involvement and research methods, and allowed them to brainstorm plans for each episode, including task allocation, condensing the information they’ve learnt, and ensuring the language is accessible.
Keeping research diaries throughout the duration of the project to record their ideas and to document their experiences of being involved in the co-design process.
Script writing, hosting, recording and editing all ‘Bridge the Gap’ episodes, writing up glossary definitions, quiz questions and summaries, compiling references, and creating social media content for each episode.

Through stages of the the project, the YPWG was also supported with insight and advice from the Young Peoples’ Advisory Group.

Meet the YPWG

Reflections on creating ‘Bridge The Gap’

“Bridge the Gap, has provided a really exciting opportunity to create a platform for young people to get to grips with the intricacies of research. On the whole, helping others to find out more about research through Bridge the Gap has been an extremely rewarding and an enjoyable experience” - Ahmad

“There’s so much we can learn about research and there’s so much researchers can learn from us and our experiences, which is why I believe it’s so important to break down the barrier between us and help create better research together” – Alma

“In the YPWG, we wanted to create a diverse group of young people to help educate and inspire others to be involved in research- which is exactly what we’ve done!“ - Ashgan

“I decided to make Bridge the Gap because it’s not just another educational podcast but a lightweight conversation between young people- it’s relatable. Those involved have felt the difference they have made to research and research has made to them and would like to extend that to more young people” – Faiqa

“I realised that involvement in research isn't as accessible to young people as it could be. I thought the YPWG and the work we are doing on Bridge The Gap are so important to help essentially bridge this gap and make involvement in research more accessible to more people, by providing them with the baseline knowledge skills that they would need” – Georgia

“'Bridge The Gap' is a passion project that I would have loved to have back when I was younger, as not having a scientific-background made it difficult to understand my place in research for several years. Now, with the wonderful work I do and the connections I've made, I can confidently say that research is for all, and can speak this message into 'Bridge The Gap'” – Sadia

Links and Contacts

Email: bridgethegap@nihr.ac.uk

#NIHRBridgeTheGap

@BridgeTGapNIHR

bridgethegapnih

YouTube