Looked After Children's Mental Health Research Network

Promoting Positive Mental Health and Mental Health Support

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Aims: Adolescents are the fastest-growing age group entering the English social care system and the group most at risk of poor mental health. Better evidence on effective interventions is crucial.

One intervention thought to support positive mental health, widely used with younger children looked after, is life story work. However, life story work relies on a poor-quality evidence base and is currently delivered as a “high-intensity” intervention. It also currently focuses on younger children, meaning there is minimal guidance available for adolescents.

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How: We will combine what we know about life story work with younger children with what is known about how to best support adolescents and their carers. We will review the evidence using a research approach called a realist review. We will use this information to build and improve our understanding of adolescent-focused low-intensity life story work.

Funded by: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Research for Patient Benefit Programme

Project start and end date: August 2021 – December 2022

Outputs and outcomes:

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DEVELOPING LIFE STORY WORK TO IMPROVE THE MENTAL HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS

Hammond SP, Mickleburgh E, Duddy C, et al Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist review BMJ Open 2023;13:e075093. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075093

Developing Life Story Work to Improve the Mental Health of AdolescentsImproving the Mental Health and Mental Health Support Available to Adolescents in Out-of-Home Care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a Realist Review
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A video for the LIMITLESS PROJECT: Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents looked-after via low-intensity life story work: A realist review.

Partners: 

The Fostering Network

The Care Leaders

University of Oxford

University of Bath

Key contact: Dr Simon P Hammond

Here are some links to where our research has recently been showcased:

PodcastArticleTogether Magazine
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