Engagement in a community parental mental health outreach service
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The experiences of engagement in a community mental health outreach service for children and families affected by parental mental health: Perspectives from the parent, child and clinician
IRAS ID
233521
Contact name
Sadia Shah
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Lanarkshire
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 4 days
Research summary
This qualitative study will aim to investigate stakeholder’s experiences of engaging within an assertive outreach service for children and families affected by parental mental health difficulties. There are three stakeholder groups from which perspectives of engagement will be explored: (i) Parent and/or other family member; (ii) Child and Young Person; and (iii) Clinicians. Participants will be recruited from within NHS Lanarkshire’s ‘Reach Out Service’ for children and parents experiencing significant mental health difficulties as a result of complex parental mental health. The complexities associated with such families’ can present as a challenge for services to meet their needs and similarly for families to feel their needs are being met. The aim to explore multiple stakeholder perspectives via normalization process theory (NPT) will provide a conceptual framework for understanding the implementation processes operating within the service. NPT acknowledges the interactions across stakeholder groups providing a framework for investigating coherence of views across the groups. A further aim to understand the associations between outcomes and engagement processes across stakeholder groups via logic modelling will act as an evaluation tool to enhance outcomes and implementation processes between the groups involved.
Study endpoints include completion of focus groups for each stakeholder group with the children’s focus groups categorized to reflect appropriate age groups; (i) Clinicians, (ii) Parent and/or family member, (iii) 12-13 year olds, (iv) 14-15 year olds, (v) 15-16 year olds. Supplementary interviews will be offered for children under 16 years who may be less inclined to share their experiences within a group setting. Potential barriers in the processes of engagement will be identified and will inform more effective service delivery and overall engagement.REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
17/WS/0241
Date of REC Opinion
7 Dec 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion