Background: The importance of engaging parents in health research as co‐researchers is gaining growing recognition. While a number of benefits of involving parents as co‐researchers have been proposed, guidelines on exactly how effective engagement can be achieved are lacking. The objectives of this scoping review were to (i) synthesize current evidence on engaging parents as co‐researchers in health research; (ii) identify the potential benefits and challenges of engaging parent co‐researchers; and (iii) identify gaps in the literature.Methods: A scoping literature review was conducted using established methodology. Four research databases and one large grey literature database were searched, in addition to hand‐searching relevant journals. Articles meeting specific inclusion criteria were retrieved and data extracted. Common characteristics were identified and summarized.Results: Ten articles were included in the review, assessed as having low‐to‐moderate quality. Parent co‐researchers were engaged in the planning, design, data collection, analysis and dissemination aspects of research. Structural enablers included reimbursement and childcare. Benefits of engaging parent co‐researchers included enhancing the relevance of research to the target population, maximizing research participation and parent empowerment. Challenges included resource usage, wide‐ranging experiences, lack of role clarity and power differences between parent co‐researchers and researchers. Evaluation of parent co‐researcher engagement was heterogeneous and lacked rigour.Conclusions: A robust evidence base is currently lacking in how to effectively engage parent co‐researchers. However, the review offers some insights into specific components that may form the basis of future research to inform the development of best practice guidelines.

Mobile and tablet apps, ubiquitous and pervasive computing, wearable computing and domotics for health.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact and acceptability of an educational multimedia program designed to promote self-management skills in children with asthma.METHODS. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial with measures at baseline and 1- and 6-month follow-up. The trial was conducted in pediatric outpatient respiratory clinics in 3 United Kingdom hospitals. Participants included 101 children aged 7 to 14 years under the care of hospital-based asthma services. The children were randomly assigned to receive an asthma information booklet alone or the booklet plus The Asthma Files, an interactive CD-ROM for children with asthma. Asthma knowledge was the primary outcome measure. Other measures included asthma locus of control, lung function, use of oral steroids, and school absence.RESULTS. At the 1-month follow-up (n = 99), children in the computer group had improved knowledge compared with the control group and a more internal locus of control. There were no differences in objective lung-function measures, hospitalizations, or oral steroid use. The study participants were positive in their evaluation of the intervention. At the 6-month follow-up (n = 90), significantly fewer children in the intervention group had required oral steroids and had had time off school for asthma in the previous 6 months. The difference did not reach statistical significance in the intention-to-treat analysis for both steroid use and school absence.CONCLUSION. The Asthma Files was found to be an effective and popular health education tool for promoting asthma self-management skills within pediatric care.

Purpose: Integrating children with and without disabilities in recreation programs is assumed to promote inclusion. How social inclusion is facilitated in recreation settings, however, is not fully known. This study aimed to explore how social inclusion is supported in a recreation program. Materials and methods: A generic qualitative methodology was adopted. Seventeen children with and without disabilities registered for the same program were recruited. This sample included eight children with disabilities and nine typically developing children between the age of eight and 17. Two semi-structured interviews and three, two-hour observation periods were conducted with each participant. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze interview and observation data. Results: This study revealed five themes that support meaningful aspects of social inclusion from participants’ perspectives: (a) creating opportunities for children to communicate their interests and desires; (b) providing opportunities to choose self-directed activities; (c) strategically selecting and placing objects to support interactions between children with and without disabilities; (d) directly encouraging interactions between children with and without disabilities, and; (e) Having relatively equal numbers of children with and without disabilities. Conclusions: This study facilitates a better understanding of how meaningful inclusion experiences can be facilitated in recreation settings.