PURPOSE: The purpose of this workshop is to provide practical tips for improving the qualitative research conducted with children and adolescents as part of clinical outcomes assessment (COA) instrument development. This workshop will incorporate the perspectives of professionals from outside of the instrument development field, who work with children every day. Workshop participants will: 1) Learn new ways to engage children and adolescents in conversation regarding their health state; 2) Understand how methods used in other disciplines (e.g., education, clinical practice) can be used to improve the amount and quality of data emerging from concept elicitation and cognitive testing research; and 3) Receive a resource ‘toolkit’ that provides practical, useful information to support qualitative research in a pediatric population.   DESCRIPTION: The methods used to develop pediatric COAs are derived from the current best practices for adult COA instrument development. Additional considerations for developmental stage, informant reporting, instrument length, reading level, formatting, data capture mode, among others, which must be addressed for pediatric COAs, will be summarized in the workshop.  Ms. Banderas will discuss optimal approaches for engaging pediatric patients in discussions regarding their health, including techniques to improve rapport building and interview participation, based on her experiences working as Child Life Specialist in a hospital setting.  Drs. Turner-Bowker and Krohe will summarize results from consultation with reading specialists, highlighting comprehension challenges faced by children of different ages, and novel ways to enhance traditional cognitive debriefing procedures in COA instrument development.  They will also lead discussion throughout the workshop; engage the audience in discussion that highlights the workshop objectives; present simple techniques and tools that audience members can immediately implement during pediatric COA instrument development and administration; and distribute a toolkit containing workshop materials, a checklist for pediatric COA instrument development, and pediatric COA-related resources.