Health needs of mothers involved in family court cases
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the health needs of mothers involved in family court case: A research study exploring linkage between family court and health data
IRAS ID
253381
Contact name
Ruth Gilbert
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, 30 days
Research summary
There is clear evidence that mothers whose children enter public care or are adopted often have complex health needs, such as drug and/or alcohol misuse, exposure to violence, mental health problems as well as chronic physical conditions. However, evidence is lacking about the extent to which healthcare needs are addressed by services before, during and after court involvement among mothers subject to care proceedings.
This study aims to generate evidence about the healthcare needs of mothers at risk of public law care proceedings. Two key policy questions will be addressed by this study: 1) for women with a live birth, could improved input by healthcare services reduce the chance of being the subject of care proceedings and improve health and welfare outcomes? 2) Is there an unmet burden of healthcare need among women with a live birth who are involved in care proceedings that could be reduced by healthcare interventions triggered through referrals in courts, social services or health services?
We will link health and family court administrative data in order explore risk factors known at delivery (such as maternal age, parity, (history of) mental health related admissions, underlying long-term conditions, adversity-related injury admissions) and their association with (recurrent) care proceedings. Our results will provide evidence of how healthcare need and use differs between women who become subject to care proceedings and those who do not. This evidence can be used to inform development of interventions to improve health outcomes among mothers and reduce their likelihood of (recurrent) care proceedings.REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0103
Date of REC Opinion
11 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion