Identifying research priorities for the health care of children and adolescents.

In an effort to identify priority statements for research into the healthcare of children and adolescents a search of multiple research databases and the Internet was undertaken. There is a considerable body of literature outlining research priorities that are built around specific disorders or specialist services, which are not readily applicable to the general healthcare of children and adolescents. A few general statements of research priorities were identified, but these were mainly developed to inform research programs in the US. In addition there was little evidence that these agendas had incorporated the needs of the consumers of this healthcare namely, children and adolescents, and their families. Therefore, there is a need to address the needs of a broader community in regards to the research agenda for the healthcare of children and adolescents. The advantage of an agenda developed by multiple stakeholder groups is that it will have broader meaning to a wider community. However at this stage, there is no such statement that can readily inform a general program of reserch into the healthcare of children and adolescents.