Youth Connection
Gain valuable experience in mental health research in one of the UK's biggest Young People's Advisory Groups.
Expand your knowledge
Enhance your CV
Contribute to research
Learn new skills
Meet new people
Youth Connection is a young people’s research group which supports the GM.Digital research unit at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), by guiding their research agenda.
The group meets regularly to hear from researchers developing digital mental health technology, and more importantly, for the young people to offer their feedback and thoughts on projects within this area, learn about research, and develop their own research proposal.
Youth Connection was awarded the YPii Involvement Team/Group of the Year Award 2022 which recognises the group’s ability to add value to research proposals and ongoing projects.
The group helped to co-design an app through a series of online workshops, using prototyping and usability testing tools. This enabled the research team to make meaningful changes to their project based on the feedback and contributions from Youth Connection.
The sessions are held fortnightly online from 5pm to 6pm and are open to anyone interested in mental health between the ages of 14 to 25.
Youth Connection is now a registered volunteer AAP with Duke of Edinburgh Award.
"I joined GM.Digital due to my interest in psychology. As a result, I have given advice on several studies and even collaborated with GM.Digital on a research study of my own. I would highly recommend Youth Connection to anyone interested in doing psychology."
Youth Connection Member
FAQS
What is Digital Mental Health Research?
Looking at how digital technology can be used to support mental health and wellbeing e.g. using mobile apps, virtual reality, wearables etc. These can be used alongside face-to-face work. It’s driven by the needs of service users – so it could be anything!
What are the sessions like?
They’re informal and welcoming. We have lots of variety in the sessions and love inviting guests to talk about their work – researchers, clinicians, animators, software technicians, project managers – anyone who works in the area of digital health and/or mental health.
If there is something you’d really like to hear more about, please let us know and we will arrange a session for you.
How often are the sessions?
The sessions last one hour and are one evening a week for 13 weeks.
Is it a support group?
No, but many of our members find the group positive.
For more information about the sessions, please contact