Barriers Facilitators to Mental Health Care Looked After Children V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Barriers and facilitators to screening, assessment and mental health care of Looked After Children
IRAS ID
247010
Contact name
Nathan Parnell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Essex
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
not applicable, not applicable
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 1 days
Research summary
Young people as a group can face significant barriers to mental health care access, including stigma, embarrassment, and poor mental literacy and recognising symptoms with little emphasis on facilitators. Concerning vulnerable young people, Looked After Children (LAC) are particularly at risk from mental health difficulties due to high rates of stressors in their life. Despite this, little is understood about issues surrounding access to mental health care for such a population. This study aims to understand the process of engagement and access to child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) care within the LAC care system. This will be explored from a LAC perspective in relation to barriers, facilitators and any other factors that influence adherence to mental health screening and access for LAC in the care system. A sample of 20 young people (12-17 years old) who have accessed the Connect service within the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) is proposed. These young people will be recruited via opportunistic sampling through service referral. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with participants at the Children's treatment centre, Ipswich (Connect team clinical site). A thematic analysis approach will be implemented for analysis. This method aims to capture relevant themes whilst exploring outcomes that can be potential areas of interest in relation to barriers, facilitators and aspects of clinical services and policies. Through this research, aside from thesis construction, a report to relevant stakeholders – Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG’s), LAC teams – and/or publications will be disseminated to ensure findings inform clinical service and/or policy decision of mental health care and access models for this population. This project is set to last until April 2020 due to this being part of a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0471
Date of REC Opinion
22 May 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion