Foster carers lived experience of blocked care (Version 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Foster carers lived experience of blocked care
IRAS ID
317055
Contact name
Alice Keenan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Staffordshire University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
Blocked care has been defined as instances in which a parent or carer might find it particularly challenging to provide the care that their child needs (Hughes, 2015) or to empathise with or remain engaged in a relationship with the child. The current understanding in the literature regarding blocked care in foster parents appears to be quite speculative or theoretically based. To the researchers knowledge no previous research has directly explored foster carers experiences of blocked care. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to understand foster carers experience of blocked care (in relation to foster children). This is important due to the potential impact of blocked care on placement stability, child outcomes, carer outcomes and child and carer dynamics. Further understanding could contribute to the development of further support, training and interventions regarding blocked care for foster parents and other professionals in the future. Participants must be non-kinship foster carers under the care of the Specialist Looked After Children’s service, who have experience of at least one placement, have cared for a foster child for at least six months, able to provide informed consent and must be able to speak English. Interviews will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. If local research guidance permits, face to face interviews on trust premises or the university campus will be considered on a case by case basis (e.g., if participants do not have a confidential space). Participants will be asked to complete a demographic / contextual questionnaire and a consent form prior to the interview. Participants will then take part in a semi structured in-depth interview about their experience of blocked care which will take between one and one and a half hours to complete. Participants will be fully debriefed following the interview.
Hughes, D. (2015) The Complex Journey of Traumatised Children: Discovering Safety in Order to Experience Comfort, Joy and Self-discovery. Children Australia, 40(2), 147-151. doi:10.1017/cha.2015.8
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
22/WA/0270
Date of REC Opinion
15 Nov 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion