Abstract
Abstract
Background
The needs of children in care are a government priority, yet the evidence base for effective interventions to support the emotional wellbeing of children in care is lacking. Research suggests that supporting the carer-child relationship, by promoting the carer’s reflective parenting, may be an effective approach to improving the wellbeing of these children.
Methods
The study comprises a definitive, superiority, two-armed, parallel, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial, with embedded process evaluation and economic evaluation, and an internal pilot, to evaluate the effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness, of the Reflective Fostering Programme. Randomisation is at the individual level using a 1:1 allocation ratio. The study is being conducted in local authority sites across England, and is targeted at foster carers (including kinship carers) looking after children aged 4 to 13. Consenting participants are randomly allocated to the Reflective Fostering Programme (intervention arm) in addition to usual support or usual support alone (control arm). The primary outcome is behavioural and emotional wellbeing of the child 12 months post-baseline, and secondary outcomes include the following: foster carer’s level of stress, quality of life, reflective capacity, compassion fatigue and burnout, placement stability, the quality of the child-carer relationship, child’s capacity for emotional regulation, and achievement of personalised goals set by the carer.
Discussion
A feasibility study has indicated effectiveness of the Programme in improving the child-carer relationship and emotional and behavioural wellbeing of children in care. This study will test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of implementing the Reflective Fostering Programme as an additional aid to the support already available to local authority foster carers.
Trial registration
ISRCTN 70832140.
Funder
Public Health Research Programme
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Pharmacology (medical),Medicine (miscellaneous)
Reference61 articles.
1. House of Commons Education Committee. Mental health and well-being of looked-after children Fourth Report of Session 2015-16 [Internet]. House of Commons; 2016 [cited 2020 May 1]. Available from: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmeduc/481/481.pdf
2. NICE. Looked-after children and young people | Guidance and guidelines | NICE [Internet]. NICE; 2010 [cited 2020 May 1]. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/PH28/chapter/1-Recommendations#dedicated-services-to-promote-the-mentalhealth-and-emotional-wellbeing-of-children-and-young-people
3. Davies C, Ward H. Safeguarding children across services: messages from research. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2012.
4. Department for Education. Children looked after in England (including adoption), year ending 31 March 2019 [Internet]. 2019. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/850306/Children_looked_after_in_England_2019_Text.pdf
5. Gramkowski B, Kools S, Paul S, Boyer CB, Monasterio E, Robbins N. Health risk behavior of youth in foster care. J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Nurs. 2009;22(2):77–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2009.00176.x.
Cited by
6 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献