Funding outcome

In the past, deciding what research topics should be explored was generally done by researchers, whose priorities often differed from those of consumers (patients, parents and caregivers)(1 ). There is now an increasing awareness of the role consumers play in shaping research agendas(2). In child health research areas, the perspectives of parents and youth (children and adolescents) are rarely heard. Yet, they are experts who can help shape and identify research that is important to them. Using the knowledge and experience of parents and youth, we will carry out a priority setting exercise to understand what they think are the most important child health research topics. We will do this by sending out online surveys for participants to rate the importance of different topics and then run focus groups to explore exactly what aspects of certain topics are important. From this, a list of the top 10 topics, as chosen by parents and youth, will be created. We will then compare these lists and identify the similarities and differences between the two groups' priority topics. A final focus group will take place to bring together parents and youth to discuss their priority topics and create a combined list. This list will reflect the opinions and priorities relating to child health research of both parents and youth. We will then search for evidence relating to the top priority topic on each group's list and create a map of what information is available. From this, gaps in the research areas will be highlighted to show where funding should be directed to perform future research. Our goal is to meaningfully engage with parents and youth to understand what child health research topics are important to them. This will help direct research to ensure the most important topics to parents and youth are identified, ultimately advancing and improving care for Albertan youth.