A Centre for Research Excellence in Adolescent Health: Making Health Services Work for Adolescents in a Digital Age
Participation is one of eight standards listed by the World Health Organisation for quality healthcare service for adolescents. Despite these global guidelines and decades of evidence, youth participation in health research is not the standard approach. Moreover, while technology has become increasingly central to how young people search for information on, communicate with and access mental health services, other health services have yet to embrace the full potential of digital communications technology.
Through active creation and promotion of innovative practices, Stream 1 of this CRE (led by Dr Philippa Collin and Professor Angus Dawson, University of Sydney) will develop a new ethics of engagement for adolescent health research in a digital age. In collaboration with the Intergener8 Living Lab, this research brings together diverse young people, families, health consumers, researchers, policy makers and other community members to investigate the conditions, ethics and modalities of youth-engaged health research. Our aim is to directly inform priorities and practices in health research and address the challenges of embedding young people’s experiences in health research, policy and service design in the digital society.
Researchers:
- Associate Professor Philippa Collin (ICS)
- Dr Teresa Swist (ICS)
- Professor Amanda Third (ICS)
- Professor Katharine Steinbeck (University of Sydney)
- Professor Rachel Skinner (University of Sydney)
- Professor Lena Sanci (University of Melbourne)
- Professor Deborah Schofield (University of Sydney)
- Professor Fiona Brooks (University of Technology Sydney)
- Professor Angus Dawson (University of Sydney)
- Professor Rebecca Ivers (University of Sydney)
- Professor Lin Perry (University of Technology Sydney)
- Associate Professor Bette Liu (University of New South Wales)
- Associate Professor Melissa Kang (University of Technology Sydney)
- Dr Julie Mooney-Somers (University of Sydney)
- Professor Leon Straker (University of Sydney)
- Dr Sally Gibson (Youth Health and Wellbeing, NSW Health)
- Professor Phillip Hazell (University of Sydney)
- Professor Louise Baur (University of Sydney)
- Professor Sandra Eades (Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute)
- Professor Susan Sawyer (University of Melbourne)
Funding: National Health and Medical Research Council (via University of Sydney)
Period: 2017-2022
Project websites: Intergener8 Living Lab 
and Wellbeing Health & Youth
