What are the research questions which matter most to you when it comes to what’s important for babies and young children’s social and emotional wellbeing?

There is research that still needs to be done.

We have been sharing the progress of the Developing Child UK Priority Setting Partnership (PSP), run by our Supporting Early Minds Research Network in partnership with the Institute of Health Visiting, in collaboration with the James Lind Alliance.

So far, the initial survey asked parents and carers, practitioners, commissioners and policy-makers to share the key questions which they felt research should answer in relation to babies’ and children’s social and emotional wellbeing. This survey received 595 responses, with parents and carers accounting for 51% of respondents, while health practitioners represented 24%. There is a strong commitment by the James Lind Alliance to centre lived experience in research prioritisation and so we have been very encouraged by the high level of engagement from stakeholders.

Taking all the relevant questions from the first survey and checking what research has already been done, they have identified 17 questions that parents, carers, people who work or volunteer with babies and children aged 0-5 years have said they want to know more about, and where there is no evidence or research currently.  They have created another survey to prioritise these questions and are asking parents and carers to choose the questions that matter most to them by completing this short survey.

This short survey will take no more than 15 minutes and asks participants to answer a few questions about themselves, and to then read and select the research questions which seem the most important to answer. The deadline for participation is 21 July 2026.

Your responses will be used to create a shortlist of questions to be shared at a workshop with parents and carers as well as people who work with babies and children aged 0-5. Participants will work together to agree the top 10 priority questions for future research focused on babies’ and children’s social and emotional wellbeing. This is an exciting piece of work and we would love your help.

There is an option at the end of the survey to indicate if you would like to find out more about attending this workshop

All data collected from this survey is stored securely in accordance with GDPR. If help is needed to complete the survey, please contact projects@ihv.org.uk.