Young people's mental health: from Research to Citizen Science Co-production projects

Research and clinical innovations for young people's mental health have lagged far behind that in adults. It is encouraging however to see that this has fast becoming a priority area in recent years. Our research group has a strong focus on identifying bio-psycho-social risk and resilience factors. In addition to conventional research studies, we have been particularly keen to pilot Citizen Science methods involving young people and the general public as active co-producers of research rather than passive recipients. In particular, Project Soothe has collected over 800 soothing photographs and engaged with citizen scientists from over 40 countries, have recently launched an app feature during COVID lockdown, and co-produced wellbeing tools with 9 teams of citizen scientists across schools and other youth groups. In this talk, I will share with you some of the findings we have, as well as what we have learned from the co-production process with young people. It will be a honest reflection of what works and what does not, and we always value opportunities to collaborate on research and public engagement work.