Meeting the needs of children following sexual abuse
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Meeting the needs of children and their carers following sexual abuse: evaluating experience and outcomes associated with a new model of service delivery.
IRAS ID
202423
Contact name
Andrea Goddard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, months, days
Research summary
A recent review of services for children following acute sexual assault and abuse in London showed significant limitation and variability in services for children when compared with the provision for adults. As a result of the review, a pilot paediatric acute service (‘Children and Young People’s Havens’, (CYPHavens)), based at Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, will open in May 2016. CYPHavens will extend and improve acute access and enhance follow-up services for children and young people after sexual abuse.
This service innovation presents a unique opportunity for evaluation of the extent to which existing concerns relating to services and outcomes for children and their carers following sexual assault/abuse are addressed. Ensuring a positive experience of services is particularly important following sexual abuse, where children will often have suffered physical and/or psychological trauma, and where there is potential for exacerbating this trauma while taking a history or examining the child.
The views of sexually-abused children and their carers are essential to inform and shape the design of services aimed at helping and supporting them. Studies evaluating these views are limited, with few studies having evaluated services similar to CYPHavens.
The aim of the proposed study will be to examine, for carers and children under 13 years of age, the feasibility and acceptability of, and satisfaction with, the new CYPHavens model of service and to explore suitable outcome measures. It will build on our experience of a current prospective study examining adolescent (13-17 years) views and outcomes.
The proposed study will be a prospective mixed methods cohort study using (i) routinely collected data and quantitative survey methods to explore age-appropriate indicators of outcome for use in evaluation of health, well being, service uptake and effectiveness (ii) qualitative research methods to elicit carer views and experiences of services and care received.REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/SC/0326
Date of REC Opinion
11 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion