How does safeguarding supervision support health visitors?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
To what extent does safeguarding supervision support Health Visitors in their safeguarding work: an ethnographic study.
IRAS ID
271448
Contact name
Judith Carrier
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 13 days
Research summary
The project will use an ethnographic approach observing health visitors (HV) receiving safeguarding supervision and subsequently working with safeguarding issues in practice. There has been a recent change in supervision practice within one local health board, which has led the way for other health boards in managing safeguarding supervision. Historically, this has been undertaken on a one to one basis. More recently, a group supervision approach has been implemented across Welsh Health Boards. This approach has had a varied response and one health board was evaluated as a pilot study by the researcher. Safeguarding supervision involves support, advice and action planning to practitioners who are involved in the safeguarding of children.
Health visitors work with children and their families aged 0-5 years and are regularly exposed to safeguarding issues, this is when children have been placed at risk of significant harm by their parent or carer. Ethnography refers to a type of qualitative research, which is observational. This allows researchers to work within the field (health visiting in this instance) and blend into the area they are observing. Health visitors will be observed during safeguarding supervision, interviewed in focus groups post supervision, as well being observed in practice with the family they bring to supervision for discussion. A sample of health visitors will also be interviewed pre and post home visit.
One to one interviews will also be undertaken with the facilitators of the group supervision (Safeguarding nurses). Information will be collected via one to one interview, (health visitors, safeguarding nurse advisors) focus groups, (Peer supervision groups), documentary analysis, and observation (health visitors and families). The aim of this study is to further evaluate the safeguarding supervision process across three Welsh Health boards in more detail, exploring how supportive it is for health visitors working with vulnerable families.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/WM/0363
Date of REC Opinion
9 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion