JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Incorporating youth perspectives into health research can enhance quality, relevance, and ethics while also providing youth with mentorship, exposure to academic research, and professional development opportunities. This has led to a growing number of youth advisory boards (YABs). Despite increased attention to YABs, however, mentions of YABs remain low in the published research on youth and health. Further, little published work has reflected on the importance of engaging with youth of color in YABs. This is critical both for the perspectives and insight they bring to the research process and to help close the participation gap in extracurriculars among youth from minoritized groups. To contribute to the literature on YABs and health equity, we offer an overview and reflection on the development and implementation of the Midwest Youth Wellness Initiative on Technology (MYWIT), a one-week virtual, financially compensated summer YAB for youth of color ages 13 to 17 centered on amplifying youth voices on questions related to digital technology and mental health. MYWIT youth advisors successfully co-developed a novel research question and semi-structured interview guide on the topic of navigating social media algorithms. The MYWIT process also highlighted the importance of youth compensation levels, scheduling, recruitment strategies, and overall resource constraints. We hope to encourage researchers to reflect on the value that even short duration YABs can add to the research process and how YABs can be structured to better recruit and support advisors from minoritized backgrounds given economic, institutional, and structural barriers.