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Participatory research is an empowering process through which individuals can increase control over their lives, and allows researchers/clinicians to gain a clearer understanding of a child's needs. However, involving children in participatory research is still relatively novel, despite national and international mandates to engage children in decision making. This paper draws on the learnings from designing the Management and Intervention for Asthma (MIA) study, which used a collaborative participatory method to develop an intervention-planning framework for South Asian children with asthma. There are currently 1 million children in the UK receiving treatment for asthma, making it one of the most prevalent chronic childhood illnesses. Symptoms of asthma are often underrecognized in children from South Asian communities in the UK, contributing to increased disease severity and increased attendance at the emergency department compared to White British children. Despite this, ethnic minorities are often excluded from research and thus absent from the 'evidence base', making it essential to hear their perspectives if health inequalities are to be successfully addressed. We worked alongside healthcare professionals, community facilitators, parents, and children to identify the key concerns and priorities they had and then designed the framework around their needs. Reflecting on the process, we identified several key considerations that need to be addressed when co-developing interventions with children. These include the power dynamics between the parent/researcher and child; navigating the consent/assent process; how parental involvement might affect the research; establishing a convenient time and location; how to keep children engaged throughout the process; tailoring activities to different levels of ability; and accounting for cultural differences. These factors were considered by the researchers when designing the study, however, implementing them was not without its challenges and highlighted the need for researchers to develop expertise in this field. Tailoring existing research methods allowed us to explore children's perceptions, priorities, and experiences of illness more effectively. However, involving children in participatory research is a complex undertaking, and researchers need to ensure that they have the expertise, time, and resources necessary to be able to fully support the needs of child participants before deciding to commit to this approach.Involving families in health research gives children the opportunity to have more control over their healthcare and can help researchers/clinicians to better understand a child’s needs. However, involving children in research is still an uncommon practice despite international pressures to include children in decision making. This paper reflects on the development of the Management and Intervention for Asthma study, which worked with communities to develop a framework for planning health interventions for South Asian children with asthma. There are currently 1 million children in the UK being treated for asthma, making it one of the most common chronic childhood illnesses. Symptoms of asthma are overlooked in children from South Asian communities in the UK, leading to worse health outcomes and more visits to the emergency department. We worked with the community to identify the key concerns and priorities they had, and then jointly designed the framework around their needs. We identified several key things to consider when co-developing interventions with children: Power dynamics Consent/Assent Parental involvement Time and location Engagement Diversity of needs Ethnicity and Culture Adapting our research and engagement methods to suit children’s needs enabled us to involve them in the study in a way that allowed us to effectively explore their views, priorities, and experiences of their illness. However, researchers need to make sure that they have the expertise, time, and resources to be able to support the needs of child participants.

Adapting behavior change interventions to meet the needs of racial and ethnic minority populations has the potential to enhance their effectiveness in the target populations. But because there is little guidance on how best to undertake these adaptations, work in this field has proceeded without any firm foundations. In this article, we present our Tool Kit of Adaptation Approaches as a framework for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers interested in delivering behavior change interventions to ethnically diverse, underserved populations in the United Kingdom.We undertook a mixed-method program of research on interventions for smoking cessation, increasing physical activity, and promoting healthy eating that had been adapted to improve salience and acceptability for African-, Chinese-, and South Asian-origin minority populations. This program included a systematic review (reported using PRISMA criteria), qualitative interviews, and a realist synthesis of data.We compiled a richly informative data set of 161 publications and twenty-six interviews detailing the adaptation of behavior change interventions and the contexts in which they were undertaken. On the basis of these data, we developed our Tool Kit of Adaptation Approaches, which contains (1) a forty-six-item Typology of Adaptation Approaches; (2) a Pathway to Adaptation, which shows how to use the Typology to create a generic behavior change intervention; and (3) RESET, a decision tool that provides practical guidance on which adaptations to use in different contexts.Our Tool Kit of Adaptation Approaches provides the first evidence-derived suite of materials to support the development, design, implementation, and reporting of health behavior change interventions for minority groups. The Tool Kit now needs prospective, empirical evaluation in a range of intervention and population settings.

An audit was conducted of all current cases on the register of a metropolitan district occupational therapy office by the physical disability team. The ethnic origin, language and religion of clients was established from the records and by direct enquiry. An analysis performed of presenting problems, service response and response times demonstrated that there were significant variations between ethnic groups in the use made of the service. No evidence was found of a systematic bias against the interests of ethnic minority groups in general, but a number of questions were raised. In particular, Asian clients were more likely to be referred by certain channels, to require major works and to waft longer for action. The implications for service providers should be explored. There is also evidence of ethnic-specific needs. The existing literature relating to ethnicity and occupational therapy, most of which is based on the American experience, is of slight value to consideration of the needs of ethnic minority groups or service providers in the United Kingdom. Social factors, including poverty and housing conditions, affect both needs and outcomes. Future research using Improved ethnic monitoring data and the baseline Information of the 1991 census of population will enlarge the debate and permit service Improvements.

There is clear evidence of inequalities in the health status of minority ethnic groups in Britain. This includes a number of conditions which may be alleviated or prevented through increased levels of physical exercise. Other research has shown lower levels of activity and raised body mass among Asian groups. There remains some scope for argument about the reasons for these differences. It is, for example, suggested that health education materials are poorly targeted at South Asian communities, or that certain cultures discourage involvement in recreational physical activities. It is known that both motivation and self-image are important to physical activity behaviour, from school age upwards. A lifestyle survey sponsored by the Health Education Authority, and qualitative research, provide an opportunity to examine the degree to which there are distinctive 'ethnic' barriers to exercise or other healthy physical activity amongst communities of South Asian origin living in England. While there are many sim...