‘The Excellent Evaluators’: Co‐Producing an Evaluation of the Hertfordshire Young People's Research Advisory Group (Herts YPAG)

INTRODUCTION: Patient and public involvement (PPI) is an established way to improve the quality and impact of health and care research. All children have a right to have a say in decisions that affect them, and Young People's Research Advisory Groups are now an established approach for enabling young people's involvement in research. However, there is limited evidence considering how to evaluate such groups. In this article, we describe the process of co-producing an evaluation of the Hertfordshire Young Person's Advisory Group (YPAG) hosted by the University of Hertfordshire, UK (UH) in collaboration with young group members. METHODS: We provide an in-depth account of how the team worked together, utilising a creative and collaborative approach to design the evaluation. RESULTS: The findings show that researchers, young people and parents/carers value children and young people's involvement in research. Findings also demonstrate the benefits for young people of being a member of the group, such as the development of new skills. CONCLUSION: Co-production of this evaluation was enabled through the adoption and practice of an approach that combined flexibility and creativity with appropriate resourcing. However, we also share the challenges with our approach, including complexities around data sharing. Nevertheless, we argue that co-producing the evaluation enabled us to learn about the strengths of the group, while also highlighting helpful learning for the future planning of the group, and contributing to evidence on the importance of evaluating PPI. PATIENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT: Three young people (two aged 17; one aged 12) were equal members of the five-person evaluation team, involved throughout alongside two UH researchers. During the 6-month evaluation process, this team met 12 times (online or face-to-face). Additional discussions were conducted over email.