May 2024

Meaningful Collaboration: Reflections from the 2024 POPCORN Conference

Earlier this month, youth partners, Abby, Isra and Samantha, attended the POPCORN conference in Toronto to share how their lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic shaped their contributions to the Indirect Consequences project. You can read more about Abby's reflections on her experiences below.

Written By: Abby McCluskey, Youth Partner

My name is Abby McCluskey – I'm a third-year Bachelor of Health Sciences student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, but I grew up in Victoria, BC. Over the past seven months, I've been involved with POPCORN through the COVID-19 Indirect Consequences project. As someone with lived experience of an eating disorder during the pandemic, I've worked with the project team to provide my perspective on the disproportionate rise in youth eating disorder hospitalizations observed in this period.

In early May, I was invited to attend the annual POPCORN conference in Toronto, where I and other youth partners participated in a panel discussion regarding our collaboration with the research team and the key themes from those conversations. Being part of the conference was an incredible learning opportunity – as an undergraduate student, observing real-life applications of theoretical concepts I've only heard discussed was exciting. However, my resounding takeaway from the experience has been the profound impact of feeling that one's perspective is valued. I've shared my lived experience as part of numerous healthcare projects, yet this was one of the few times I've been given (both literally and metaphorically) a seat at the table in the broader discussion underlying the project. Having the opportunity to share my thoughts in a collaborative environment was incredibly empowering, reinforcing the idea that my perspective has value. The effect of this has resonated with me in many ways and is something that I feel has helped me to contribute more effectively and confidently to all the different things I'm involved in.

As a whole, this experience has stood out to me as an exemplification of how to break down the "us" and "them" divide, which can sometimes prevent collaboration between academia and those with lived experience. I think the first (and arguably the most important) step in this process is simply bringing these various perspectives together in discussion environments where all groups are at the same table. I witnessed this throughout the conference and feel it is best depicted in the breakout session I attended, where we all, literally and figuratively, sat at the same table. In this session, each individual's unique knowledge was acknowledged and celebrated in our conversation despite the immense differences in our academic and personal backgrounds, leading to an honest, innovative discussion in which I truly felt heard.

For me, the POPCORN conference modelled how meaningfully integrating lived experience, research, and clinical perspectives can lead to efficacious and productive collaboration. Ultimately, this has left me with a sense of hope for the future of pediatric health research in Canada; the POPCORN conference was proof that the lived experience and researcher/clinician perspectives can coexist, and that working together – rather than remaining in the silos that have defined healthcare for so long – is key to creating meaningful, productive change.

To learn more about ways to get involved in POPCORN research, please email:

Carla Southward, Patient, Family, and Engagement Coordinator
carla.southward@sickkids.ca.