Experiences in CAMHS of young people with a social worker
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Experiences of mental health provision in Children and Adolescents Mental Health Services among children and young people with social work involvement: an interview study
IRAS ID
325983
Contact name
Matt Woolgar
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Evidence suggests children and young people with a social worker (CYPwSW) often experience higher rates of mental illness than their non-care experienced peers. For this study we will conduct qualitative interviews with CYPwSW’s to explore and understand their access and engagement with CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Serivces). We will sample our participants from the CYPwSW who were referred to mental health services in the South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust in the period 2007-2021. Specifically, we will contact potential participants whose data is contained in the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) of SLaM, a large operational dataset containing records of more than 99% of cases referred to SLaM. This archive contains linked and anonymised health, education, welfare and social care records for 300,000 patients, of which a substantial number have given consent to be re-contacted about being involved in future research. We plan to contact about 80 children and young people who have consented to being re-contacted with an aim of recruiting up to 60 young people to our study. We are seeking a maximum diversity sample, including both children and young patients who received treatment after referral, as well as those who did not. The interviews will explore participants’ perspectives on what led to referral, their experience of the assessment and treatment process, and their reflection about their own engagement with the services and the changes they experienced. Interviews will be transcribed and analyzed with thematic analysis in order to find patterns in children and young people’s lived experiences of CAMHS.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0107
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion