Anyone interested in joining, including young people, parents, teachers, youth and health workers, are being encouraged to turn up at 4pm tomorrow at Sydney University’s School of Rural Health.

The community consultation committee is the latest initiative of the adolescent health study called ARCHER.

In 2010 it received almost $1 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council, one of the largest research grants awarded that year.

The ARCHER study is looking at the impact of changes in puberty hormones on the health and wellness of adolescents, in areas such as relationships, sleep patterns, anxiety and depression, risky behaviours, and future heart health.

Across all areas of the study, researchers will be looking at the particular health challenges faced by rural teenagers, who are often not well represented in broader adolescent health studies.

“Having a community consultation committee is very important to us. Active participation from parents, youth workers, health professionals, teachers, government officers and young people will make sure this is more than a dry academic study and reflects the real health concerns affecting young people,” said Dr Catherine Hawke, who is leading the ARCHER study in Dubbo, as well as Orange.

“Ideally, the committee will be able to advise us on local factors which are important to the health of young people, how we can disseminate information about the study and how we can ensure that our research translates into benefits for young people.

“This study has the potential to dramatically increase our understanding of why adolescents behave and think the way they do and we want local communities, through community representatives, to make sure that families and all the people who work with young people are able to have input.”

The ARCHER study, also being led by Professor Kate Steinbeck, Professor of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Sydney, involves a large number of health, medical and education experts from across the university.

Many will become regular visitors to Dubbo and Orange as the study progresses, and are “committed to supporting local health professionals, families and schools, through training and education programs”.

“The local communities have already been so helpful. We have had wonderful support from schools, sporting and community groups,” Dr Hawke said.

“It is not very often that a research project of this size is based in a rural community, and we hope that more people will be involved as the program expands, including through the community advisory group.”

Recruitment of students into the ARCHER study is underway.

The School of Rural Health in Dubbo is at 11 Moran Drive.

People interested in joining the committee should contact ARCHER manager Mrs Karen Paxton on 6882 0288.