Evaluation of the Compass Outreach Service

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Evaluation of the Compass Outreach Service: A Mixed Method Approach

• IRAS ID

  188408

• Contact name

  Nicholas Yeates

• Contact email

  Nicholas.Yeates@nsft.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 7 months, 28 days

• Research summary

  The research will evaluate the success of the Compass Outreach Service. The Compass Outreach Service aims to reduce local authority costs of children entering or remaining in care, combined with an improvement in clinical and academic outcomes for looked after children.
  The research aims to evaluate not only the effectiveness of the service, but also to identify the therapeutic factors that lead to improvement in young people’s wellbeing, by using a mixed methods approach. It is expected that by determining these factors it will allow the approach to be shared with other services and encourage them to work in a similar way.
  The participants will include the young people who are currently accessing the Compass Outreach Service, as well as their parents/carers and non-clinical staff. The first part of the study will measure differences on outcome measures between two time points, to identify if there is a significant change in the young person’s wellbeing and academic achievement. The second part of the study will use separate focus group discussions/interviews for the young people, their carers and the staff to develop an understanding of what the Compass Approach means to them, and what they find helpful, or not helpful about the approach.
  The primary objective is to examine whether the service is effective at reducing costs associated with the various levels of local authority intervention and looked after children placement breakdown.
  The secondary objectives are:
  • to examine whether the Compass Approach is effective at improving young people’s emotional, behavioural and family functioning.
  • to examine whether the Compass Approach is effective at improving young people’s academic outcomes
  • to understand the aspects by which the Compass Approach is effective at improving young people’s outcomes
  • to explore the strength of data collection for cost analysis

• REC name

  London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/LO/1627

• Date of REC Opinion

  12 Oct 2015

• REC opinion

  Unfavourable Opinion