Youth Connection is a young people’s digital mental health research group which supports the GM.Digital research unit at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), by guiding their research agenda. The group meets regularly to hear from researchers developing digital mental health apps., and more importantly for the young people to offer their feedback and thoughts on projects within this area.
The key focuses of Youth Connection are for our members to:
- Contribute to research
- Expand their knowledge
- Meet new people
- Learn new skills
Youth Connection was awarded the YPii Involvement Team/Group of the Year Award 2022 which recognises the group’s ability to add value to research proposals and ongoing projects.
The group helped to co-design an app through a series of online workshops, using prototyping and usability testing tools. This enabled the research team to make meaningful changes to their project based on the feedback and contributions from Youth Connection.
Within the group we run a series called ‘Youth Connection Researches…’ where group members develop their own research project and discuss stages involved in this. We have guest speakers, from various areas within research e.g. ethics, to discuss ideas and think about different aspects of the project in relation to their area of expertise e.g. what are the ethical considerations which would need to be made?
Our most recent project was titled: Help! I need somebody: Can digital mental health tools prevent deterioration in help seeking young people waiting for support?
Youth Connection also develop a Podcast and a Blog where their interests really get to shine through – we love learning more about what they’re interested in and how their contributions are shaping our research!
For updates, keep checking our Blog or Contact Us to find out more.