Children and clinical research: ethical issues

Young persons’ groups

The iCAN network is a growing consortium of young persons’ advisory groups, including groups in the UK, United States, Canada and France. Generation R is a National Young Persons’ Advisory Group made up of local groups across the country. The CRN:Children group in England has produced GenerationR magazine, showcasing how children, young people and parents can be involved in the design and delivery of research. They also provide a practical Guidance document for researchers designing patient information leaflets giving tips to researchers on presenting information clearly for children and young people.

The Young Persons’ Mental Health Advisory Group (YPMHAG) gives advice to researchers working on mental health studies.

Resources for young people

Other resources that may be of interest to young people include interviews with young people who have experience of taking part in research, which are available on the website YouthHealthTalk. Information about how to get involved in research, and what studies are taking place at the moment is available on the CRN: Children website.

Other resources for researchers

The website YoungHealthParticipation brings together a range of useful resources on involving children and young people in research.

The National Children’s Bureau has also published Guidelines for Research with Children and Young People.