Paediatric Event Case Studies overview

People’s Research Café: The Future of Children’s Health Research Event 12th March

"An opportunity to hear directly from the people this research is designed to serve”  

People’s Research Cafés are PERC’s way of bringing researchers and the public together in an informal, welcoming space. Visitors can learn about public involvement and see it in action, while giving researchers real perspectives and feedback that goes on to shape their projects. So far, over 650 people have visited the six People's Research Cafés we’ve run... 

In March 2026, we held a Research Café for children, young people, and parents, led by Laura Alvarado Cruz and Kimberley Foley, which was attended by 80 children and young people. The event brought together children, young people, parents and researchers to discuss a range of topics, including long COVID, long-term health conditions, and vaccination during pregnancy, helping to identify priorities and questions for future children's health research. 

This was a collaborative process from start to finish, and before the event itself children, young people and parents were involved in: 

• Selecting the projects for discussion 

• Reviewing the plain English summaries of the projects 

• Refining questions 

Read about the insights each researcher gained from their discussions with children, young people, and adults:

• Exploring the health inequalities experienced by children and young people with long term health conditions 

• Discussing Long Covid symptoms through illustration 

• Improving vaccine conversations with healthcare professionals during pregnancy 

• Improving the understanding of ovarian cysts in young people and understanding the priorities of the affected community 

• Investigating the spread of scarlet fever and Strep A in schools and how to better engage children with the project 

• Getting feedback on a Patient Information Sheet to check understanding and ensure accessibility 

 With special thanks to our collaborators NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Centre for Paediatrics and Child Health,  Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, and the PERC staff.