Building adolescent research capacity: The co-creation of the Health Hive online course
1
Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University Of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
2
Charles Perkins Centre, The University Of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
3
Business School, The University Of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
4
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, Australia
5
Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
6
The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University Of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
7
The University Of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Adolescent engagement is critical to ensuring research meets adolescent health and wellbeing needs, however it is not common practice(1). To maintain research quality, meaningful adolescent engagement requires tailored support and training, yet limited resources exist globally(2). This study aimed to co-create a freely accessible online course to build adolescent research capacity in public health (14-24 years).
METHODS:
Iterative participatory co-creation research design with four stages and grounded in Youth Participatory Action Research principles (participatory, inquiry-based, transformative), and Positive Youth Development Theory (strengths-based). Adolescents were involved from inception to delivery, collaborating with adult researchers and community partners. Stage 1: An evidence brief was developed synthesising literature reviews and diverse adolescents lived experience to inform course development. Stage 2: A co-design workshop was held to finalise the course structure, style and delivery through interactive group activities, dot-voting, and inclusive dialogue. Stage 3: Content was drafted with iterative rounds of feedback with all stakeholders. Stage 4: Course production and user-testing, hosted on Open edX.
RESULTS:
The iterative co-creation process with 37 stakeholders (43% 14-24 years) led to an online course structured into six core-modules: 1) Importance of youth engagement, 2) What is research? 3) Ethics 4) Mentally Safe Participation 5) How to get involved, 6) How to apply learnings. Consensus was reached on style and delivery of modules to enhance engagement, content credibility and trust, reflecting adolescent priorities. The course is self-paced (3 hours duration), strengths-based, interactive, and accessible (e.g., short videos, quizzes, live-captions, audio-visuals, grade 8 reading-level). It launched at Australian Parliament House in Oct-2025 and is accessible world-wide(3).
CONCLUSIONS:
The co-created accessible online course aims to support adolescents as active contributors in public health research. This has potential to create pathways for inclusive and sustained engagement, translating into evidenced-based research and policy. Effectiveness will be assessed through a mixed-methods evaluation.
Adolescent engagement is critical to ensuring research meets adolescent health and wellbeing needs, however it is not common practice(1). To maintain research quality, meaningful adolescent engagement requires tailored support and training, yet limited resources exist globally(2). This study aimed to co-create a freely accessible online course to build adolescent research capacity in public health (14-24 years).
METHODS:
Iterative participatory co-creation research design with four stages and grounded in Youth Participatory Action Research principles (participatory, inquiry-based, transformative), and Positive Youth Development Theory (strengths-based). Adolescents were involved from inception to delivery, collaborating with adult researchers and community partners. Stage 1: An evidence brief was developed synthesising literature reviews and diverse adolescents lived experience to inform course development. Stage 2: A co-design workshop was held to finalise the course structure, style and delivery through interactive group activities, dot-voting, and inclusive dialogue. Stage 3: Content was drafted with iterative rounds of feedback with all stakeholders. Stage 4: Course production and user-testing, hosted on Open edX.
RESULTS:
The iterative co-creation process with 37 stakeholders (43% 14-24 years) led to an online course structured into six core-modules: 1) Importance of youth engagement, 2) What is research? 3) Ethics 4) Mentally Safe Participation 5) How to get involved, 6) How to apply learnings. Consensus was reached on style and delivery of modules to enhance engagement, content credibility and trust, reflecting adolescent priorities. The course is self-paced (3 hours duration), strengths-based, interactive, and accessible (e.g., short videos, quizzes, live-captions, audio-visuals, grade 8 reading-level). It launched at Australian Parliament House in Oct-2025 and is accessible world-wide(3).
CONCLUSIONS:
The co-created accessible online course aims to support adolescents as active contributors in public health research. This has potential to create pathways for inclusive and sustained engagement, translating into evidenced-based research and policy. Effectiveness will be assessed through a mixed-methods evaluation.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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