"Not Only Adults Can Make Good Decisions, We as Children Can Do That as Well" Evaluating the Process of the Youth-Led Participatory Action Research 'Kids in Action'.

Manou Anselma,Mai Chinapaw,Teatske Altenburg

doi:10.3390/ijerph17020625

Abstract

In Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR), youth collaborate with academic researchers to study a problem, develop actions that align with their needs and interests, and become empowered. ‘Kids in Action’ aimed to develop actions targeting healthy physical activity and dietary behavior among, and together with, 9–12-year-old children as co-researchers. This paper presents the process evaluation of ‘Kids in Action’ based on eight focus groups with children (N = 40) and eight interviews with community partners (N = 11). Interview guides were based on empowerment theory and the RE-AIM framework, in order to evaluate the study on: empowerment, collaborations, reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. Transcripts were analyzed using evaluation and provisional coding. Both children and community partners perceived an increased awareness of healthy behaviors and an improvement in confidence, critical awareness, leadership and collaboration skills, which contributed to increased feelings of empowerment. Community partners valued child participation and the co-created actions. Actions were also well-perceived by children and they liked being involved in action development. The strong relationship of researchers with both children and relevant community partners proved an important facilitator of co-creation. Future studies are recommended to attempt closer collaboration with schools and parents to gain even more support for co-created actions and increase their effectiveness.

Highlights

Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is a methodology in which academic researchers collaborate with youth to make improvements in their
The current paper evaluates the process of phase 2, where children were involved throughout the process of action development, implementation and evaluation, from doing background research to developing and evaluating actions
The section ‘empowerment’ mainly consists of data from the focus groups with children, the other themes mainly consist of data from the individual interviews with community partners

Summary

Introduction

Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is a methodology in which academic researchers collaborate with youth to make improvements in their. Youth who participate in YPAR identify issues in their community that they want to improve, and through conducting research, find starting points to take action and make change happen [1,2]. They become change agents and build the power to improve their communities [3]. In YPAR, youth participate in the research process as co-researchers. Youth can improve their feelings of empowerment [6,8].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion