Including the Voice of Children < 15-Years-Old in Paediatric Global Health Research

Despite evidence of the benefits of including children’s voices in global health research, they continue to be underrepresented. Implementation of how to include children’s voices appears to remain an obstacle to their inclusion in global health research. In this manuscript, we present an epistemological frame that advocates children as experts of their own experiences and knowledge-bearers. Then we provide four case studies, to illustrate ongoing efforts to build equity in the design and execution of paediatric health research.

Ensuring children’s equitable inclusion requires recognizing them as active participants in their health and wellbeing, and empowering them to employ their agency in all interactions with researchers, while recognizing the dialogical nature of those interactions. Successfully involving children in global health research can lead to important psychosocial and clinical insights, that could be leveraged to inform future treatment and care practices.

We present four case studies describing the inclusion of children in research and research development related to prevention, treatment and/or care of chronic and acute diseases (tuberculosis, HIV, cervical and other forms of cancer) in a number of global settings including India, Philippines, South Africa, United States, Zambia. The exemplars detail novel applications of a diversity of arts-based methods that are rooted in frameworks for participatory action research. They highlight the need to invest funds, training, time and resources for early and sustained engagement with children throughout the research process. We conclude by offering principles for equitably engaging children in global health research.