Historically the voices of children in research have been silent. They are often seen as victims or beneficiaries of research rather than co-researchers or partners. This is beginning to change with rowing awareness that involving children in the design, delivery and evaluation of services can make services more accessible to them and their peers. This article reviews the processes involved n a research project commissioned by Children's Fund, which investigated the use and non-use of services within a local area. The involvement of children was paramount and resulted in the recruitment f nine young researchers between the ages of 7-13. Various cycles of participatory action research evolved throughout the project and this article focuses specifically on two-recruiting the researcher and training young researchers. We consider the cycles of reflection and action crucial to any participatory project and discuss how lessons were learned to inform further stages of the process. Themes such as challenges, power and participation are discussed throughout.

Literature suggests there is a need to hear from children themselves about the quality of healthcare they receive and, although their views are increasingly sought, little is known about children’s definitions of ‘high or low quality care’. This article reports on a participatory, qualitative study that set out to explore with children and young people whether they could be involved in monitoring the quality of hospital care. Nine young people played an active role in the research process, collecting data from an additional 129 participants aged between 9 and 14. Five characteristics of quality care were identified: ‘technical expertise’, ‘friendly staff ’, ‘respect’, ‘choice’ and ‘explanations’.

The model can be valuable in guide planning and implementing participatory research with children and also as a tool for evaluating the process.

No abstract

No abstract