Co-production and Feasibility RCT of Intervention to Improve the Mental Health of Children With a Social Worker

Child Maltreatment, Child Mental Disorder, Parent-Child Relations

Feasibility RCT to ask: Can the investigators coproduce, with parent collaborators, a new service, Infant Parent Support (IPS), to improve the mental health of children with a social worker? Can the investigators test the feasibility of an RCT of IPS compared with services as usual?

Questions addressed: Can the investigators coproduce, with parent collaborators, a new service, Infant Parent Support (IPS), to improve the mental health of children with a social worker? Can the investigators test the feasibility of an RCT of IPS compared with services as usual? Considered for entry: Parents of children aged 0-5 who have mental health concerns, social workers, and a multi-agency support plan. Inclusion criteria: Any family in the Glasgow or Bromley trial sites with a child aged 0-5 years with mental health concerns, a social worker, and a multi-agency support plan. Exclusion criteria: At the outset of the Trial there were no exclusion criteria. Over the course of Phase 1, the following exclusion criteria have emerged: * If the child has a Child Protection Plan or is on the Child Protection Register * If the family are in the process of 'stepping down' from a CPP or CPR * If the child is currently engaged in therapeutic work. Intervention: Infant Parent Support (a multidisciplinary infant mental health team aiming to improve the mental health of children aged 0-5 with a social worker). Primary Outcomes Phase 1: Coproduction, with parents of children who have a social worker, of the IPS intervention. Phase 2: Recruitment and retention (at 3 and 6 months) to a feasibility RCT. Secondary Outcomes Phase 1: preliminary mapping of service context. Phase 2: * Improvement in the organisation, access, and quality of services, for children with a social worker and mental health issues. * Examination of putative primary and secondary outcomes for a future definitive RCT of IPS (see below) * Development of a parent-supported outcome measure and a parent-supported experience measure for use in a future definitive RCT * Exploration of whether it is possible to expand into new sites to conduct a successful Phase III trial.

United Kingdom