Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Resource links researchers with teen stakeholders for input, feedback

Penn State PRO Wellness is currently accepting inquiries from researchers who feel their research could benefit

In the Penn State Adolescent Health Network (AHN), each participating school appoints one adviser to recruit adolescents and facilitate communication between the AHN team and participating adolescents. Once educated on the basics of the stakeholder role and community-engaged research via an online training, adolescents sign up for five to six sessions per school year and use real-life experiences to advise health researchers. In return, participating adolescents gain exposure to various health topics and careers in health and research fields. As adolescents graduate, they are replaced by underclassmen. An AHN does not have to be set up via school partnerships, but in general, an AHN should have a strong relationship formed with organizations who can facilitate adolescent engagement. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State PRO Wellness, with support from Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), is organizing a network of teens called the Adolescent Health Network (AHN), who are trained as stakeholders and could give health researchers feedback as they build and develop their studies.

Researchers can ask high school students from grades 9-12 to provide feedback on such topics as: recruitment strategies, phrasing used in surveys, tasks study participants will be asked to complete and plans to share study results with teenagers at the conclusion of a project. The student participants are not research subjects but are providing stakeholder input and expertise on research directly relevant to them.

"At PRO Wellness, we have a long history of working with schools to provide health and wellness programming,” said Deepa Sekhar, director of Penn State PRO Wellness and co-lead of Penn State CTSI's Community-engaged Research Core. “The creation of the adolescent health network is a natural evolution of our work in schools, with a two-fold purpose: improving the quality of adolescent research and sparking interest in science and biomedical research among teens.”

The network was launched in spring 2022, with funding through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards. The network is actively recruiting schools and students. However, the program currently partners with adolescents from over 10 schools in central Pennsylvania. The AHN is actively booking sessions for spring and fall 2024. All sessions are held virtually, via one-hour Zoom meetings.

How it works

PRO Wellness is currently accepting inquiries from researchers who feel their research project could benefit from a session with the AHN; sessions may be scheduled in spring or fall 2024.

Once a research project has been accepted for an AHN, the PRO Wellness staff will manage the logistics of scheduling, communicate with the network members, guide the researcher on their preparation and set up for the zoom meeting and assist with technology resources during the session. Materials may be circulated to the students prior to the session, to help facilitate discussion.

At the end of the session, PRO Wellness asks that the researcher talk about their career, education and training for the last 10 minutes, to help educate students on a variety of careers in fields related to health research.

For more information on the Adolescent Health Network, contact Penn State PRO Wellness.

Penn State CTSI provides the tools, resources and training to help the Penn State community move its health research more efficiently and effectively out of science laboratories and into use by the people and communities who need it. The project described is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Grant U54 TR002014-05A1, which funds the institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Last Updated February 28, 2024

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