Forming a Parent And Clinician Team (PACT) in a cohort of healthy children

Vanderhout, Shelley M.; Birken, Catherine S.; Zaccaria Cho, Maria; Maguire, Jonathon L.

BACKGROUND: Engaging parents in child health research can facilitate choosing relevant research questions, recruiting participants who reflect the diversity of large communities, and disseminating study results to communities in accessible ways. MAIN BODY: Primary care well-child visit systems present a foundation for trusting relationships between families and clinicians, lending itself well to a system where health research is embedded into the delivery of health care. We provide an example of a practice-based research network called TARGet Kids!, which is a longitudinal cohort study of children from birth to adolescence. Researchers and clinicians have partnered with parents of children participating in TARGet Kids! to ensure child health research is centred on family values and preferences. A Parent And Clinician Team (PACT) was formed to set research priorities, co-design research protocols, troubleshoot issues, and communicate research to knowledge users. CONCLUSION: This partnership will facilitate child health research which is feasible, relevant and inclusive for improving children’s health care and public health policy.