RAMYS v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
CAMHS Risk Assessment and Management for Young People with Self-harm
IRAS ID
364474
Contact name
Ben Hoi-Ching Wong
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
East London NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Young people who have a history of self-harm, regardless of the presence of suicidal ideation, are an at-risk population with elevated risks of repetition of self-harm, or even suicide. Limited research evidence has been found to support the validity and reliability of any standalone risk assessment tools. Comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment and formulation are recommended by NICE guidelines, but there is often high heterogeneity in the way they are conducted as well as interpreted. Moreover, little is known about how young people and parents perceive and predict their risks, and how they manage risks with and without CAMHS resources.
This is a qualitative study at CAMHS, aiming to understand the current risk assessment and management for children and young people who have a history of self-harm. Service user advisors with lived experience will be engaged in the co-designing process and interpretation of the findings. The primary objective of the study is to understand how risks are understood by young people, caregivers, and clinicians respectively. We will recruit at least 15 young people who self-harm (aged 12-18 years) who are on any community CAMHS caseload or waiting for service, 15 caregivers, and 15 clinicians from a variety of CAMHS settings (including crisis, community CAMHS, and inpatient) which is involved in risk assessment or management. We will interview service users and carers on their perceived risks, and the support to which they have access, comparing these to the CAMHS assessment. We will also interview clinicians on their approaches to self-harm risk assessment and any existing engagement mechanisms. Inductive thematic analysis will be adopted.
We aim to contribute to producing a shared understanding of self-harm risks across a variety of CAMHS services. The potential implications will include practical improvement and/or innovations in more effective and accurate assessment and management of risks.REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
26/WA/0034
Date of REC Opinion
24 Mar 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion