Suchergebnisse

Introduction Reporting data from a case study of a collaborative systematic review, this paper discusses the impact service user involvement might have on research, and how research might benefit from this. Methods This was a qualitative case study. The researcher analysed process data on the collaboration in the form of meeting transcripts and minutes, reflective interviews and the researchers' own field diary. The review was also compared with two systematic reviews on a similar topic, using the AMSTAR checklist. Results The young people had influence at all stages of the review, but most importantly shifted its focus from healthcare to education, emphasising education as an important determinant of health. Conclusion Young people involved in this review influenced the researcher's reviewing as well as the review, which shows that involving service users in research is important in order to reduce researcher bias in social care research.

Patient perspectives in multi-disciplinary study teams can add to the relevance, quality, and application of research. In the United Kingdom, ethics committees tend to distinguish patient and citizen involvement from research participation. This means that when researchers ask patients or citizens for advice on a study, or invite them to collaborate with the study team, they do not need ethical approval. This puts their input on a similar footing to clinicians, other practitioners, academics, and policy makers. But there are times when people's input into study design and implementation derives from their participation as research subjects. This is more likely to be common in qualitative research, where a researcher's interaction with participants may result in collaboration on data collection and analysis. Drawing on a study with young people leaving foster and residential care, this case study describes what we did when a research participant wanted to be acknowledged by name. This request challenged the principle of anonymity which ethics committees and researchers commonly expect to be afforded to, and welcomed by, participants. We declined the request on two grounds. First, the commitments we had made in our application for ethics approval and second, our concern that naming one participant might breach the confidentiality of those who preferred to remain anonymous. Here, we ask whether it is possible to conduct fully anonymised participatory research and suggest that involvement of patients and citizens as research advisors carries challenges to established conventions.

ABSTRACTA systematic review of interventions to support looked‐after children in school included interventions that aimed to improve attainment, or prevent drop‐out or exclusions, and those that aimed to reduce absenteeism in the care population. Studies were critically appraised and their results were considered. No study was found robust enough to provide evidence on effectiveness, but promising interventions were identified. The review highlights the lack of evidence in an area that has received a lot of policy attention in the past few years. Future evaluations need to be underpinned by lessons learned from existing evaluations, clearly defined theories and definitions, and by the views of professionals, researchers, policy‐makers and young people in care.

ABSTRACTIt has been argued both that research in social care is insufficiently relevant to practice, and that a clearer steer is needed from the social work community in shaping national research priorities. The work reported here systematically searched for and analysed findings from studies that asked practitioners working with children for their suggestions for research. Eight studies were found, and authors gave us access to the primary data from four of these, to which we added responses from the What Works for Children? website survey of practitioners' research priorities. Responses were analysed in terms of both topic and type of research. Family support, parenting and child protection research were among the most frequently requested child‐focused topics. In terms of question type, almost half the research suggestions concerned the effectiveness of interventions. These findings suggest that a commitment to outcomes, and to robustly researched interventions to attain those outcomes, are increasingly important to practitioners. These views from the front line may well be useful in assisting decision‐makers in social work, and research funders, to set priorities.

This paper is intended as a contribution to the debate on the place of research in children's services from a funder of social research and three researchers, two of whom spent (between them) 12 years in an organisation delivering services to children and young people. We draw on two studies, the first identifying the questions to which practitioners in social care wanted answers; the second describing the degree of 'fit' between funded research and practitioners' questions. These inform a discussion of the kinds of research and research infrastructure needed to support high-quality social care services for children.

ABSTRACTThis article discusses two related areas of research practice with children and young people that have received less attention in the literature than they might. The first is working with children and teenagers for whom the traditional, discursive nature of interview‐based research is less accessible. The second is the disinclination of researchers to report on difficulties in the research process. As researchers, we scanned the literature for assistance for some of the problems we encountered, with little reward. In describing everyday problems  (and  some  of  our  – still  developing  – solutions)  we  hope to encourage more dialogue on the uncomfortable realities of the research process, and how we might improve research practice, making it a more fruitful exercise for researchers, and a more enjoyable one for children and teenagers.