Co-producing an intervention to prevent mental health problems in children and young people in contact with child welfare services.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Children and young people (CYP) in contact with child welfare services are at high risk of developing mental health problems. There is a paucity of evidenced-based preventative interventions provided to this population. OBJECTIVE: This project worked in partnership with CYP, their parents/caregivers and the professionals who support them to co-produce a preventative mental health intervention for CYP in contact with child welfare services. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: We recruited a purposive sample of CYP in contact with child welfare services (n = 23), parents/caregivers (n = 18) and practitioners working within child welfare services and mental health services (n = 25) from the North East of England and convened co-production workshops (n = 4). METHODS: This project followed the established principles for intervention development, applying the six steps to quality intervention development (6SQUID) approach. The mixed method research consisted of four work packages with continuous engagement of stakeholders throughout the project. These were a systematic review of reviews; focus groups with practitioners; interviews with parents/caregivers and CYP; co-production workshops. RESULTS: We identified that the primary risk factor affecting CYP in contact with child welfare services is the experience of childhood adversity. The quality of relationships that the CYP experiences with both their parent/caregivers and the professionals involved in their care are considered to be the main factors amenable to change. CONCLUSIONS: We found that a trauma-informed, activity-based intervention with an embedded family-focused component provided to CYP who have experienced adversity is most likely to prevent mental health problems in those in contact with child welfare services.