We are two youth advisors with Kids Help Phone (KHP), Canada's only 24/7 e-mental health service for young people. As members of KHP's National Youth Council, we contribute our perspectives and lived experiences to help shape programs, services, research, and organizational decision-making. The Council provides a meaningful platform for youth voices to influence issues that directly affect young people across Canada.

Our involvement in this work began through KHP's Applied Research Scholars Program, an initiative designed to build research and evaluation capacity while creating opportunities for meaningful collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and youth. Through the program, youth are engaged throughout the research process and invited to contribute their perspectives to complex research questions, policy discussions, and knowledge development.

Through the Scholars Program, we joined an interdisciplinary team of researchers from KHP, North York General Hospitals, Sick kids and others working to develop a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant proposal examining the impact of social media bans in Canada and other jurisdictions on youth mental health. Throughout this process, we experienced firsthand both the value of meaningful youth engagement and the barriers that young people can encounter when participating in research. As individuals who are passionate about supporting youth participation in decisions that affect their lives, we wanted to share our experiences and reflections in this article.Having youth as partners in research that pertains to them provides a unique avenue to strengthen both the research process and its outcomes. Through involving youth, not only do the investigators gain valuable insights to support the project, but youth gain experience and contribute to change that affects their lives. Despite these benefits, youth are rarely involved as meaningful partners in research or policy initiatives, even when they are among those most directly impacted. Additionally, when they are included, they may encounter barriers that limit meaningful engagement.

Throughout our involvement as Applied Scholars in this project, we had regular meetings with one of the co-principal investigators (co-PI), which were crucial for teaching us skills and providing us with more information regarding the grant application process. These check-ins also helped ensure we remained on track and created a supportive environment where we could ask questions as we progressed in our roles. 

With this experience, we learned how important it is to have a supervisor who allows youth to work independently while providing support where needed. Many tasks that initially seemed time-consuming became much more manageable because the co-PI provided us with the necessary resources and was always available to answer questions. When developing our Narrative CVs, these resources made the writing process go slightly smoother. 

Although we were excited to contribute, participating in the grant application process introduced us to an unfamiliar research system. Before joining the project, we had never heard of the CIHR, ResearchNet, and Narrative CVs. Being introduced to so many new terms and requirements at once felt overwhelming, particularly as youth with limited previous exposure to formal research and grant application processes.

Creating and connecting the necessary accounts was one of the first potential difficulties we encountered. The co-PI guided us through creating a ResearchNet account and obtaining a CIHR PIN, but even with her support, the process involved several steps. Without someone walking us through each stage, it would have been difficult to understand what needed to be done and whether everything had been completed correctly. Although we were fortunate to receive this level of guidance, youth involved in other research projects may be expected to navigate this unfamiliar administrative process largely on their own.

Developing our Narrative CVs presented another challenge. Narrative CVs ask applicants to describe their experiences, contributions, and impact in a written narrative rather than simply listing their accomplishments. As youth, we had less formal research experience and had not previously written about ourselves in a professional context. We sometimes underestimated the value of our contributions or struggled to explain how our advocacy, volunteering, and lived experiences had created a meaningful impact. Much of the language surrounding CV development appeared to emphasize traditional academic accomplishments, including publications and research experience. Although the instructions allowed for a broader range of contributions, this was not always immediately apparent. As a result, youth applicants who often lack formal research experience may question whether their experiences are sufficiently relevant or valuable, contributing to stress and feelings of imposter syndrome. 

Although the available guiding questions encouraged reflection, examples written by other youth or nonacademic research partners would have helped us understand which experiences were more relevant and how to frame them in a research context. 

We believe that CIHR and other funding agencies could make the grant application process more accessible to youth partners by considering the following:

Provide a designated support person or regular office hours for youth partners. This would allow youth to receive real-time assistance with navigating ResearchNet, making CIHR PINs, and developing Narrative CVs.

Develop a Narrative CV resource specifically for youth. The resource should clearly explain that advocacy, volunteering, community involvement and lived experience are valuable contributions to research. It could also include sample Narrative CVs from youth with different backgrounds and levels of research experience.

Create an accessible account-registration guide. A step-by-step guide with screenshots or a short video walkthrough could demonstrate how to create accounts, obtain a PIN, and connect the required information.

Explain the purpose of each administrative requirement. Youth should understand how completing these steps allows them to be formally recognized as members of the research team. This context may help them see that the process is not simply administrative work, but part of acknowledging the importance of their contributions.

As a potential solution, some would suggest that supervisors manage accounts and develop CVs on behalf of youth partners. However, this raises an important question: Does completing these steps for youth make the process more accessible, or does it reduce their ownership and meaningful involvement? Given the importance of involving youth in research that directly pertains to them, we believe the better approach is to provide them with the guidance and resources needed to participate confidently. Ongoing efforts by CIHR demonstrate its commitment to listening to the research community and incorporating feedback. For example, a recent message from the Vice-President of Research Programs, What we heard: Strengthening the long-term sustainability of the Project Grant program, outlines changes informed by feedback from the research community. We hope that the perspectives of youth partners will similarly be considered as CIHR continues to evaluate and improve its processes. 

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