Get Involved with ECHRG

We would like to express our thanks to all children, young people, parents, carers and others who have given their time to this project by being involved in our engagement events.

We are working with many public engagement groups to understand their different views on the use of linked administrative data to study how the local environment affects children’s health and education outcomes as they are growing up.  We also want to know what patients, pupils, young people, parents and others think we should research.

Who have we been working with?

So far, we have worked with:

Children, young people and families

• Brindishe Manor School: Presenting on environmental epidemiology and data analysis for KS2 schoolchildren in Lewisham.  
• The Great Ormond Street Parent and Carer Advisory Group for research (PCAG): Listening to the voices of children and young people's families and carers, taking account of their experiences, priorities and perspectives. 
• GenerationR Liverpool Young Peoples Advisory Group: Meeting with the group who provide a forum for young people to learn about, and comment on, research.
• London Academy of Excellence: Meeting with secondary school science students in Stratford, East London.
• Dulwich Wood Primary School: Running an education session in primary school in Sydenham with Mums for Lungs.
• A-level students: Hosting work experience students who helped us by doing an Instagram takeover and developing communications materials.
• NIHR Public Advisors: Discussing the cohort and research priorities with public advisors, and featuring their perspectives on our social media.
• NIHR Applied Health Research network: Meeting with patient and public involvement teams and public advisor at NIHR ARC North West Coast.
• ADR Public Insights Panel: Understanding views on the research and data linkage within the Kids’ Environment and Health Cohort project.

Charities and representative organisations

• UseMYData: Discussing perspectives on the cohort and priority research questions with the independent movement of patients, relatives and carers in the UK focused on the use of patient data to save lives and improve outcomes.
• MothersRiseUp, Our Kids’ Climate, XR Families and Mums for Lungs, Choked Up UK: Discussing our research projects, acceptability of pseudonymised data linkage and research priorities.
• Institute for Women's Health: Meeting parents from the Women's institute Patient and Public Involvement group, discussing our research projects and their priorities.

Conferences, blogs and podcasts

• The International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) 2024 conference: Presenting how the Kids’ Environment and Health Cohort can advance research on the impact of environmental factors on children’s health.
• Digital Footprints Conference 2024: Presenting at the conference which focuses on novel forms of data to deliver social impact. 
• Indoor Air Quality Observatory Stakeholder workshop: Presenting at the workshop.
• NIHR Applied Health Research network: Providing a workshop on routinely collected administrative data.
• Great Ormond Street Hospital: Writing a blog on ‘Studying the impact of environments on child health by linking big data'.
• Gin and Topic podcast: Being a guest speaker on a podcast about the Kids’ Environment and Health Cohort project https://shows.acast.com/gin-and-topic/episodes/clean-g-kids-environment-and-health.

What have we learned?

We have really benefitted from parents and children and young people sharing their time, views and ideas with us, which has helped shape our plans. We are very grateful to you all! 

We have written a blog on the value of your input for our work here: https://www.adruk.org/news-publications/news-blogs/kids-environment-and-health-cohort-reflections-on-our-public-engagement-journey-to-date/

Who are we listening to next?

Our next confirmed events are:

• Further engagements with advisory groups are currently being arranged for this autumn. 

How can I contribute?

To get involved with out work, please reach out:

• On email: kenvh-cohort@ucl.ac.uk
• On X @kenvhc
• On Insta @kids_env_health_cohort
• On linkedIn https://linkedin.com/company/kenvh