Liverpool after-school Science Club helping to shape the future of child health research
Monday 21 October 2024
The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Paediatrics and Child Health team have enjoyed working with the young people at the Speke Venny Science Club this year.
Our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Executive Lead, Jen Preston, supports an after-school “Science Club” with the local community that invites young people to come and learn about how fun and engaging real-world applications of science and technology can be. Senior Project Manager, Dr Gemma Wheeler, and Project Manager, Jess McNeill, have supported several Science Club sessions, where together we tested new health technology innovations, and discussed what’s important to young people as we plan the next 5 years of the NIHR HRC in Paediatrics and Child Health.
Mixed realities MRI playkit
Gemma and Jess’ first visit to Speke Venny Science Club was based on the mixed realities MRI playkit that helps young people learn about MRI scans and feel more at ease before attending a hospital appointment.
MRI scans can be a scary experience for young people, but the flat-packed cardboard playkit uses a mixture of virtual and augmented reality to gamify the experience and help patients feel less anxious about the procedure. At the Science Club, Gemma and Jess presented the playkit to the young people on behalf of our colleagues and the researchers behind the kit, Dr Dylan Yamada-Rice and Dr Jill Thompson.
In the session, young people learned about how MRI scanners work and what they look like by interacting with the playkit. By downloading an app onto a smartphone and placing it inside the cardboard MRI machine, the assembled kit mimics the flashing lights and noises of a real MRI scan, after which an example MRI scan can be interacted with on screen.
How the Speke Venny Science Club is shaping the NIHR HRC
One of the core priorities of the NIHR HRC in Paediatrics and Child Health is to ensure that the voices of children and young people are heard and have a meaningful impact on what we do. It is important to us that their thoughts, ideas and priorities are at the centre of our thinking as we craft our strategies for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) and Equality, Diversity and Involvement (EDI).
In our most recent visit to the Speke Venny Science Club, Jen, Gemma, and Jess came along with a big challenge for the young people. We asked them to use Lego, drawings, and other creative means to create new child health technologies, and how we can make spaces where children feel safe and listened to. We asked them to think about what kinds of barriers there might be for children to live a healthy lifestyle and come up with some creative solutions to help them and their families.
It was wonderful to see how interested and engaged the young people were with health and technology and we are excited to bring their ideas on board in the NIHR HRC in Paediatrics and Child Health. We’d like to extend an enormous thank you to Jen and her colleagues at the Speke Venny Science Club, and of course, an even bigger thank you to the young people that came along.
Find out more about the Speke Venny Science Club using the link below.