scholarly journals Life story work for children and young people with care experience: A scoping review

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-315
Author(s):  
Simon P. Hammond ◽  
Julie Young ◽  
Claire Duddy

This scoping review was undertaken to provide an overview of peer-reviewed empirical evidence concerning the undertaking of Life Story Work (LSW) with children and young people with care experience (CYPCE). Our search identified 1,336 potentially relevant publications. Of these, 24 empirical studies met our inclusion criteria and examined a wide range of practices in different countries. Using a thematic approach, key findings and characteristics related to current conceptualizations of LSW are explored and knowledge gaps identified. Our review shows that predominantly small-scale qualitative studies have been undertaken. These studies typically reported participants’ experiences and perspectives on pre-existing LSW practices (17 articles), or evaluations of innovative practices (7 articles). However, both lacked efficacy data. We identified numerous LSW practices that were consistently identified as providing “high-quality” experiences: young person-led approaches; consistent support to access and process personal information, including chronological facts, reasons for care entry and beyond; the use of artifacts; and assistance/training for carers supporting LSW. The included studies also identified practices that undermined LSW: rushed, incomplete accounts, using insensitive language that failed to include different voices from a young person’s past. The discussion appraises the findings through a critical lens and concludes that LSW is a clear priority for all and represents an intervention that has potential to help the unaddressed mental health needs of CYPCE. Unfortunately, without better evidence on how this intervention works best, for whom, over what period, and at what cost, practice cannot move forward. This paper challenges all stakeholders to realize this potential.

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S452-S452
Author(s):  
A. Rebowska

AimsThe aim of this literature review is to explore the range of factors that influence the degree of access to health care services by children and young people with learning disabilities.BackgroundChildren with learning disabilities are at increased risk of a wide range of health conditions comparing with their peers. However, recent reports by UK government as well as independent charities working with children and young people with learning disabilities demonstrated that they are at risk of poor health outcomes as a result of barriers preventing them from accessing most appropriate services.MethodsComprehensive searches were conducted in six databases. Articles were also obtained through review of references, a search of the grey literature, and contacting experts in the field. The inclusion criteria were for studies evaluating access to healthcare services, identification and communication of health needs, organisational aspects impacting on access and utilisation, staff attitudes where they impacted on access, barriers, discrimination in patients with intellectual disabilities age 0–18. The literature search identified a sample of 36 papers. The marked heterogeneity of studies excluded conducting a meta-analysis.ResultsBarriers to access included problems with identification of healthcare needs by carers and healthcare professionals, communication difficulties, the inadequacy of facilities, geographical and physical barriers, organisational factors such as inflexible appointment times, attitudes and poor knowledge base of healthcare staff.ConclusionThe factors identified can serve as a guide for managers and clinicians aiming to improve access to their healthcare services for children and young people with intellectual disabilities.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2019 ◽  
pp. 152483801988170
Author(s):  
Kathomi Gatwiri ◽  
Lynne McPherson ◽  
Natalie Parmenter ◽  
Nadine Cameron ◽  
Darlene Rotumah

In Australia and internationally, Indigenous children are seriously overrepresented in the child welfare system. This article provides an overview of literature investigating the needs of Indigenous children in residential care facilities. The provision of culturally safe and trauma-informed therapeutic care to Indigenous children and young people in residential care recognizes that the trauma and violence that they have experienced is exacerbated by their Indigeneity due to the colonial histories presenting. Utilizing a systematic scoping review methodology, the study returned a total of 637 peer-reviewed articles that were identified and reviewed for inclusion. The process of exclusion resulted in the inclusion of eight peer-reviewed studies and 51 reports and discussion papers sourced from gray literature. Findings from this study, though dearth, indicate that trauma-informed and culturally safe interventions play a significant role in Indigenous children’s health and well-being while in care. Their experiences of abuse and neglect transcend individual trauma and include intergenerational pain and suffering resulting from long-lasting impacts of colonization, displacement from culture and country, genocidal policies, racism, and the overall systemic disadvantage. As such, a therapeutic response, embedded within Indigenous cultural frameworks and knowledges of trauma, is not only important but absolutely necessary and aims to acknowledge the intersectionality between the needs of Indigenous children in care and the complex systemic disadvantage impacting them.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. e030699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Gilmour ◽  
Margaret Maxwell ◽  
Edward Duncan

ObjectiveTo map key policy documents worldwide and establish how they address the treatment and care needs of children and young people (CYP) who are suicidal.DesignWe conducted a scoping review to systematically identify relevant key policy documents following a pre-established published protocol.Data sourcesFour databases (CINAHL; Medline; PsycINFO; The Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews) and the websites of key government, statutory and non-statutory agencies were searched. Google and Google Scholar were used to identify other policy documents and relevant grey literature. Leading experts were consulted by email.Eligibility criteria for selected studiesPolicies, policy guidance, strategies, codes of conduct, national service frameworks, national practice guidance, white and green papers, and reviews of policy—concerned with indicated suicide prevention approaches for children up to 18 years old. Limited by English language and published after 2000.Data extraction and synthesisData were extracted using a predetermined template. Second reviewers independently extracted 25%. Documents were categorised as international guidance, national policy and national guidance, and presented in a table providing a brief description of the policy, alongside how it specifically addresses suicidal CYP. Findings were further expressed using narrative synthesis.Results35 policy documents were included in the review. Although many recognise CYP as being a high-risk or priority population, most do not explicitly address suicidal CYP. In general, national guidance documents were found to convey that suicidal children should be assessed by a child and adolescent mental health practitioner but offer no clear recommendations beyond this.ConclusionThe lack of specific reference within policy documents to the treatment and care of needs of children who are suicidal highlights a potential gap in policy that could lead to the needs of suicidal children being overlooked, and varying interpretations of appropriate responses and service provision.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 634-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Breaks ◽  
Christina Smith ◽  
Steven Bloch ◽  
Sally Morgan

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Whitney ◽  
Penina Gross‐Richmond ◽  
Edward A. Hurvitz ◽  
Mark D. Peterson

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Aoife Gallagher ◽  
Carol-Anne Murphy ◽  
Johanna Fitzgerald ◽  
James Law

Background: Understanding the factors that influence the implementation of health interventions in the context of education is essential to improving outcomes for children and young people with speech and language needs (SLCN). Yet implementation considerations have not been adequately addressed when developing interventions for this context. The aim of this paper is to present a protocol for a scoping review of existing implementation frameworks that might guide SLCN intervention research in schools.  Methods: In accordance with scoping review guidelines, the study will be conducted in six phases: (1) identification of the research question, (2) identification of potentially relevant studies of Implementation Science frameworks, (3) study screening and selection, (4) charting and extracting data from identified frameworks, (5) collating, summarising and reporting the results and (6) consultation with stakeholders. Two reviewers will conduct the screening and extraction stages independently. Identified frameworks will be collated, and described, and constructs from the IS frameworks will be categorised using domains from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. A draft IS model will be proposed based on the findings of the scoping review. Conclusions: The findings of this review will provide guidance for researchers in addressing implementation considerations when developing universal interventions for SLCN in the ordinary classroom, and ultimately will contribute towards improving outcomes for this vulnerable childhood population.


2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 114-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina Porter ◽  
Kate Hampshire ◽  
Alister Munthali ◽  
Elsbeth Robson

Surveillance of children and young people in non-Western contexts has received little attention in the literature.   In this paper we draw principally on our research in one African country, Malawi, to examine the ways in which their independent travel is shaped by  (usually adult-directed) surveillance and control in diverse urban and rural contexts.   Surveillance is interpreted very broadly, because our empirical data indicates a range of practices whereby a close watch is kept over children as they move around their community and travel out to other locations.  In some cases we suggest that surveillance of children and young people becomes internalized self-surveillance, such that no external social control is required to police their movements.Our evidence, from eight research sites, brings together a wide range of source material, including findings from intensive qualitative research with children and adults (in-depth interviews, accompanied walks, focus groups, life histories) and a follow-up questionnaire survey administered to children aged 7 - 18 years [N=1,003].  Although many of the children in our study attend school,  local economic circumstances in both urban and rural areas of  Malawi commonly require children’s participation from an early age in a much broader range of productive and reproductive work activities than is usual in Western contexts, with corresponding impact on daily patterns of movement.  Children may have to travel substantial distances for school, in support of family livelihoods, and for other purposes (including social events): the necessity for independent travel is common, and frequently raises concerns among parents and other adults in their communities such that surveillance is considered essential.  This is achieved principally by encouraging travel in groups of children. We show how young people’s independent travel  is mediated by (urban and rural) locational context, time of day, age and, in particular, by gender, and how adult efforts at surveillance may help shape resistances in the interstitial spaces which mobility itself provides.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e026967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L Brand ◽  
Fiona Morgan ◽  
Lorna Stabler ◽  
Alison Lesley Weightman ◽  
Simone Willis ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe increasing number of children and young people entering statutory care in the UK is a significant social, health and educational priority. Development of effective approaches to safely reduce this number remains a complex but critical issue. Despite a proliferation in interventions, evidence summaries are limited. The present protocol outlines a scoping review of research evidence to identify what works in safely reducing the number of children and young people (aged ≤18 years) entering statutory social care. The mapping of evidence gaps, clusters and uncertainties will inform the research programme of the newly funded Department for Education’s What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care.Methods and analysisThe review uses Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review methodology. Electronic database and website searches will identify studies targeting reduction of care entry, reduction of care re-entry and increase in post-care reunification. Supplementary searching techniques will include international expert consultation. Abstracts and full-text studies will be independently screened by two reviewers. Ten per cent of data abstraction will be independently conducted by two reviewers, with the remainder being extracted and then verified by a second reviewer. Descriptive numerical summaries and a thematic qualitative synthesis will be generated. Evidence will be synthesised according to primary outcome, intervention point (mapped across socioecological domains) and the realist EMMIE categorisation of evidence type (Effectiveness; Mechanisms of change; Moderators; Implementation; Economic evaluation).Ethics and disseminationOutputs will be a conceptual evidence map, a descriptive table quantitatively summarising evidence and a qualitative narrative summary. Results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations, the What Works Centre website, and knowledge translation events with policy-makers and practitioners. Findings will inform the primary research programme of the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care and the subsequent suite of systematic reviews to be conducted by the Centre in this substantive area.


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