How do we best engage young people in decision-making about their health? A scoping review of deliberative priority setting methods
How do we best engage young people in decision-making about their health? A scoping review of deliberative priority setting methods
Introduction: international organisations have called to increase young people's involvement in healthcare and health policy development. We currently lack effective methods for facilitating meaningful engagement by young people in health-related decision-making. The purpose of this scoping review is to identify deliberative priority setting methods and explore the effectiveness of these in engaging young people in healthcare and health policy decision-making.
Methods: seven databases were searched systematically, using MeSH and free text terms, for articles published in English before July 2021 that described the use of deliberative priority setting methods for health decision-making with young people. All titles, abstracts and full-text papers were screened by a team of six independent reviewers between them. Data extraction followed the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidelines. The results are presented as a narrative synthesis, structured around four components for evaluating deliberative processes: 1) representation and inclusion of diverse participants, 2) the way the process is run including levels and timing of participant engagement, 3) the quality of the information provided to participants and 4) resulting outcomes and decisions.
Findings: the search yielded 9 reviews and 21 studies. The more engaging deliberative priority setting tools involved young people-led committees, mixed methods for identifying and prioritising issues and digital data collection and communication tools. Long-term and frequent contact with young people to build trust underpinned the success of some of the tools, as did offering incentives for taking part and skills development using creative methods. The review also suggests that successful priority setting processes with young people involve consideration of power dynamics, since young people's decisions are likely to be made together with family members, health professionals and academics.
Discussion: young people's engagement in decision-making about their health is best achieved through investing time in building strong relationships and ensuring young people are appropriately rewarded for their time and contribution. If young people are to be instrumental in improving their health and architects of their own futures, decision-making processes need to respect young people's autonomy and agency. Our review suggests that methods of power-sharing with young people do exist but that they have yet to be adopted by organisations and global institutions setting global health policy.
Adolescent, Family, Health Personnel, Humans, Narration, Young people, Scoping review, Health decisions, Priority setting, Adolescents
Watson, Daniella
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Mhlaba, Mimi
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Molelekeng, Gontse
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Chauke, Thulani Andrew
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Simao, Sara Correia
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Jenner, Sarah
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Ware, Lisa J.
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Barker, Mary
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Watson, Daniella
1ddbeaa5-d181-4c2c-9e6c-0a100130184d
Mhlaba, Mimi
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Molelekeng, Gontse
2fbdaaa0-4761-4dfd-a887-fef9ff0c1f6e
Chauke, Thulani Andrew
82bfdaa6-83ed-4e96-8839-5c3d6c894f41
Simao, Sara Correia
29162c98-4848-49f6-bdde-57d9bb964251
Jenner, Sarah
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Ware, Lisa J.
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Barker, Mary
374310ad-d308-44af-b6da-515bf5d2d6d2
Watson, Daniella, Mhlaba, Mimi, Molelekeng, Gontse, Chauke, Thulani Andrew, Simao, Sara Correia, Jenner, Sarah, Ware, Lisa J. and Barker, Mary
(2023)
How do we best engage young people in decision-making about their health? A scoping review of deliberative priority setting methods.
International Journal for Equity in Health, 22 (1), [17].
(doi:10.1186/s12939-022-01794-2).
Abstract
Introduction: international organisations have called to increase young people's involvement in healthcare and health policy development. We currently lack effective methods for facilitating meaningful engagement by young people in health-related decision-making. The purpose of this scoping review is to identify deliberative priority setting methods and explore the effectiveness of these in engaging young people in healthcare and health policy decision-making.
Methods: seven databases were searched systematically, using MeSH and free text terms, for articles published in English before July 2021 that described the use of deliberative priority setting methods for health decision-making with young people. All titles, abstracts and full-text papers were screened by a team of six independent reviewers between them. Data extraction followed the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidelines. The results are presented as a narrative synthesis, structured around four components for evaluating deliberative processes: 1) representation and inclusion of diverse participants, 2) the way the process is run including levels and timing of participant engagement, 3) the quality of the information provided to participants and 4) resulting outcomes and decisions.
Findings: the search yielded 9 reviews and 21 studies. The more engaging deliberative priority setting tools involved young people-led committees, mixed methods for identifying and prioritising issues and digital data collection and communication tools. Long-term and frequent contact with young people to build trust underpinned the success of some of the tools, as did offering incentives for taking part and skills development using creative methods. The review also suggests that successful priority setting processes with young people involve consideration of power dynamics, since young people's decisions are likely to be made together with family members, health professionals and academics.
Discussion: young people's engagement in decision-making about their health is best achieved through investing time in building strong relationships and ensuring young people are appropriately rewarded for their time and contribution. If young people are to be instrumental in improving their health and architects of their own futures, decision-making processes need to respect young people's autonomy and agency. Our review suggests that methods of power-sharing with young people do exist but that they have yet to be adopted by organisations and global institutions setting global health policy.
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s12939-022-01794-2
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Accepted/In Press date: 18 November 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 January 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We would also like to thank Kerida McDonald and Kerry Albright at UNICEF for their guidance on this work.
Keywords:
Adolescent, Family, Health Personnel, Humans, Narration, Young people, Scoping review, Health decisions, Priority setting, Adolescents
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 484315
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/484315
ISSN: 1475-9276
PURE UUID: 9fd21d62-7744-4546-841f-1946436091a9
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Date deposited: 15 Nov 2023 17:56
Last modified: 01 Oct 2024 02:01
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Contributors
Author:
Daniella Watson
Author:
Mimi Mhlaba
Author:
Gontse Molelekeng
Author:
Thulani Andrew Chauke
Author:
Sara Correia Simao
Author:
Sarah Jenner
Author:
Lisa J. Ware
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