An audit and evaluation of the Hammersmith & Fulham CAMHS Child Psychotherapy Outreach Service at the Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

Abstract

Early intervention can decrease the risk that emotional and behavioural difficulties in early childhood, develop into emotional disorders and pathological behaviours in adulthood. A Child Psychotherapy Outreach Service was established in the nursery school of the Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre to offer psychotherapeutic support to children and parents and consultations to staff. The Service is described briefly. The results of an independent audit and evaluation of the service are presented. Mothers of eight children and 10 staff members were interviewed to evaluate the Service and identify additional needs of service-users. Content and Thematic Analysis of interviews revealed that participants appreciated being heard, understood and contained by the psychotherapist. While mothers emphasised improvements in their child's behaviour and mood, staff reported increased understanding of the children's communications and behaviours. The evaluation showed that the location of the Service in the nursery is crucial for engaging the hard-to-reach population.

Keywords:

• early intervention
• vulnerable population
• audit and evaluation
• thematic analysis
• attachment
• nursery outreach
• parent-work

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Carla Drahorad and Sue Sherwin-White for their constructive comments on the evaluation proposal and this manuscript. Special thanks are due to Mr Michael Pettavel (Head Teacher), the members of staff and the parents at the Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, who agreed to participate in the audit and evaluation.

Notes

1. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at a Hammersmith and Fulham CAMHS tier 3 Scientific Meeting (25 June 2009), the ACP Heads of Service conference (2 November 2009) and at the 4th Annual Greenwich CAMHS Under 5's Conference (12 October 2009) and an article based on the work was published in Nursery World (29 April 2010).

2. ‘Owl babies’ by Martin Waddell (1992), describes three little owls waiting for their mother to return home. The youngest owl says repeatedly ‘I want my mummy’.