Trauma-Informed Care in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Grounded Theory of Trauma-Informed Care in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS): perspectives of clinicians
IRAS ID
339263
Contact name
Melissa Potter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Teesside University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) describes an approach which is being increasingly used by mental health services to recognise the large number of service users who have experienced some degree of traumatic experiences. It has been described as the recognition that mental health symptoms can be understood as “attempts to cope within the context of one’s life experiences, history, and culture”. TIC also acknowledges how services can continue to cause harm to service users in the way they work. By working in TIC ways, we reduce perpetual risk to service users and aim to improve treatment outcomes. There is little research into clinicians’ experiences of using TIC, with none researching child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The proposed project will use a qualitative methodology to understand what clinicians working in CAMHS understand of TIC and what their experiences are of implementing this approach. A Grounded Theory methodology will then allow the development of a theory which attempts to illustrate trauma informed processes within these services. This will identify facilitating factors and barriers to TIC. Clinicians of all roles and experiences working with young people in mental health services (including mainstream, neurodevelopmental, learning disability, and forensic) will be invited to take part in an interview. This will be facilitated via video call to allow flexibility with clinician's busy schedules. A semi-structured interview will be conducted with open, exploratory questions and it is expected to take one hour. The initial aim is for a sample of 12 clinicians. The theory developed from the proposed project is intended to be disseminated to inform commissioning of trauma informed initiatives by understanding the needs and perspectives of clinicians. Furthermore, the proposed study can be utilised nationally to further improve mental health care by protecting service users from retraumatisation and empowering their recovery.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/SC/0086
Date of REC Opinion
6 Mar 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion