Youth-Engaged Qualitative Analysis: Lessons from RISES

According to the PLOS One article by Pham et al. (2026), a five-member transgender and gender-diverse youth advisory board was trained and retained to participate in qualitative coding and analysis across a one-year RISES study.

According to the PLOS One article, the study reached an 83.3% YAB retention rate after one year and had 100% of the trained YAB members complete qualitative analysis training.

• 08/04/2024 recruitment start: 12 screening surveys completed and 8 interviews conducted, according to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026).
• In 2025 the RISES study coded 42 transcripts, with YAB members and mentors coding 25 transcripts, according to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026).
• Each YAB member coded 2–6 transcripts, according to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026).
• YAB compensation was adjusted to $125 every 3 months based on participant feedback, according to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026).

The RISES project partnered with a five-member transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse youth advisory board (YAB) to conduct qualitative analysis, according to the PLOS One report (Pham et al., 2026).

According to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026), recruitment began on 08/04/2024, 12 people completed the screening survey, 8 completed the interview and follow-up task, 6 were invited to consent, and 5 youth participated long term.

According to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026), the team provided formal didactic training, NIH Good Clinical Practice certification, hands-on coding practice using Braun and Clarke’s six-step reflexive thematic analysis, and one-on-one mentorship from graduate and medical students.

According to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026), YAB members coded 2–6 transcripts each and the YAB/mentor pairs coded 25 of 42 transcripts, with all transcripts double coded by TGD-identifying team members where possible.

According to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026), communication practices shifted to encrypted group messaging (Signal), flexible meeting schedules, and mentor-led check-ins to reduce burden on youth.

According to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026), YAB members wrote feedback on themes and supporting quotes and one YAB member met ICMJE authorship criteria and coauthored the paper.

According to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026), the team reported YAB comments such as "Thank you so much, I am so grateful to have you guys as support! !" which the authors used to document the supportive group environment.

Youth-engaged qualitative analysis requires planning for training, mentorship, compensation, and flexible timelines, according to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026).

According to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026), compensating youth more frequently and building mentor relationships increased retention and quality of coding, which implies project budgets must allocate recurring micro-payments and mentor time.

• Allocate funds for ongoing compensation: PLOS One (2026) moved from $250/6 months to $125/3 months based on youth feedback.
• Design training that combines short didactic sessions with hands-on practice: PLOS One (2026) used three 45-minute didactics plus practice transcripts tied to youth interests.
• Embed mentorship: PLOS One (2026) paired each youth with a trained mentor who checked in weekly to sustain progress and reduce overwhelm.

The RISES PLOS One study (Pham et al., 2026) demonstrates that with training, mentorship, flexible timelines, and compensation, youth advisory boards can successfully conduct qualitative analysis.

According to PLOS One (Pham et al., 2026), investing in communication and mentorship drove an 83.3% retention rate and full completion of training by all YAB coders.

Teams that want to replicate RISES-style youth-engaged qualitative analysis can combine the study’s methods with AI-enabled workflows to lower synthesis time and protect sensitive data.

If you want to pilot a workflow that pairs trained youth collaborators with AI-assisted synthesis, Try Evidano for free to ingest transcripts, run thematic analyses, and support mentor-led, participatory coding.