Co-producing an Intervention to Prevent Mental Health Problems in at-risk Children and Young People in Contact With Child Protection Services
Tracks
Springbrook Room - In Person Only
| Wednesday, March 20, 2024 |
| 1:05 PM - 1:25 PM |
Overview
Dr Ruth Mcgovern, Newcastle University, UK
Details
Presentation Key Learnings:
• Intervention development research must meaningfully amplify the voice of the CYP it aims to support. By doing so, our research was able to:
• Identify which CYP in contact with child protection services that the intervention should target: CYP who have experienced adversity and/or trauma linked to the family.
• And how best to support them: a trauma-informed resilience-enhancing activity-based intervention, with an embedded family component which promotes reflective functioning and reciprocity in the family.
Speaker
Dr Ruth Mcgovern
Senior Lecturer In Public Health Research
Newcastle University, UK
Co-producing an Intervention to Prevent Mental Health Problems in at-risk Children and Young People in Contact With Child Protection Services
Abstract
Children and young people (CYP) in contact with child protection services are at high risk of developing mental health problems. Early preventative intervention has been found to be effective at reducing mental health risk. However, much of this evidence is from research conducted in schools and health settings with CYP who experience different risk and protective factors. Our project worked with CYP in contact with child protection services and the professionals who support them, to co-produce a secondary preventative mental health intervention that responds to their needs.
This research project followed the established principles for intervention development and engaged CYP and practitioners throughout. The project consisted of three work packages (WP):
• WP1: a systematic review of systematic reviews to examine best bet interventions to help prevent mental health problems in CYP.
• WP2: focus groups with child protection and mental health practitioners & interviews with parents/caregivers and CYP in contact with child protection services to examine risk and protective factors for the development of mental health problems in this population, identify the factors malleable to change and the ways in which they could be intervened with.
• WP3: co-production workshops with: i) CYP in contact with child protection services, and ii) child protection and mental health practitioners.
This project highlighted the interconnected nature of interpersonal risk factors and mental health problems experienced by CYP in contact with child protection services, supporting research documenting the association between childhood adversity and mental health problems. This presentation will discuss the co-production process which led to the development of a trauma-informed, activity-based youth intervention with embedded family component to prevent mental health problems in CYP who have experienced adversity.
This research project followed the established principles for intervention development and engaged CYP and practitioners throughout. The project consisted of three work packages (WP):
• WP1: a systematic review of systematic reviews to examine best bet interventions to help prevent mental health problems in CYP.
• WP2: focus groups with child protection and mental health practitioners & interviews with parents/caregivers and CYP in contact with child protection services to examine risk and protective factors for the development of mental health problems in this population, identify the factors malleable to change and the ways in which they could be intervened with.
• WP3: co-production workshops with: i) CYP in contact with child protection services, and ii) child protection and mental health practitioners.
This project highlighted the interconnected nature of interpersonal risk factors and mental health problems experienced by CYP in contact with child protection services, supporting research documenting the association between childhood adversity and mental health problems. This presentation will discuss the co-production process which led to the development of a trauma-informed, activity-based youth intervention with embedded family component to prevent mental health problems in CYP who have experienced adversity.
Biography
Dr Ruth McGovern is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health Research at Newcastle University, UK. She has a professional background in social work. Ruth’s research is focused upon the development and evaluation of complex interventions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of disadvantaged children and families; a central strand of this includes parental substance use, mental health, domestic violence and child poverty. She has been awarded over A$30 million in research funding and has 119 published outputs. Ruth uses participatory methods within her programme of applied research, achieving meaningful engagement with people with lived experience and practice colleagues.
