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Abstract
The mental health vulnerability of children and young people in foster and adoptive families is well recognised, which has led to the development of dedicated posts and care pathways in mental health care provision. This article reports on learning resulting from local quality improvement work in a single child and adolescent mental health service team. This work was concerned with the ‘front door’ of access to care for these groups and specifically addresses initial consultations with adoptive parents and adoption professionals, reporting findings from an analysis of reports from consultations undertaken over a 13-month period between April 2021 and May 2022. The analysis highlights that support can be sought by these parents and professionals for diverse issues relating to mental health which is also indicative of a high level of need amongst children and young people involved with specialist mental health provision. The analysis also has wider implications for practice in demonstrating the benefits of attending to clinical data to contribute meaningfully to practice-based scholarship in this type of specialist setting.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Notes
1 For example, the presence of both parents may be interpreted by a mental health professional as an indication of the significance of the challenges they were facing and a unified responses that adds weight to the case. Alternately, or additionally, it may be that more detail is yielded from two parents over one or indication of a gender bias that, if a father attends, his version is somehow perceived subconsciously as more credible by the professional.
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Notes on contributors
Sewanu Awhangansi
Sewanu Awhangansi is a Speciality Registrar in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
Philip John Archard
Philip John Archard was, at the time of involvement in this work, a Mental Health Practitioner in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Leicester, and is currently a Deputy Director of the Doctorate in Child, Community and Educational Psychology and an Associate Lecturer at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. Correspondence to: Philip Archard, Department of Education and Training, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London, England. Email: [email protected]
Louisa Briggs-Deardon
Louisa Briggs-Deardon was, at the time of involvement in this work, an Assistant Psychologist in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis is a Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at the University of Central Lancashire.
Sam Dalzell
Sam Dalzell was, at the time of involvement in this work, an Honorary Assistant Psychologist in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
Michelle O’Reilly
Michelle O’Reilly is Associate Professor of Communication in Mental Health at the University of Leicester and a Research Consultant and Quality Improvement Advisor for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
Alvina Ali
Alvina Ali is a Consultant Psychiatrist in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.