A Barnard

Approaches to Working with Children and Families: A Review of the Evidence for Practice

This article explores a range of approaches to working with children and families within Children’s Services and Children’s Social Care, in a UK local authority context. There are a variety of established approaches, supported by different concepts and theories. Given the substantial recent and developing changes in the political, social and economic context for supporting families in need, collating academic and practical evidence to inform both theory and decision-making are vital. The article has a practice focus for Children’s Services, but it is also relevant and has implications for a much wider readership. Evidence was gathered through a purposive and rapid review and aggregated with practice evidence from various sources. An array of issues is considered relating to the context, theory, application, implementation and evaluation of taking one or several approaches. Overall, there is a very limited evidentiary basis, either from research or local authority practice, for adopting any one, wholesale approach to working with children and families in a local authority context over another, but there is emerging evidence of the benefits that certain models and approaches could have, and anecdotally the decision to adopt one formal model appears to be increasing.

Visual methodologies in mental health

Purpose – This lack of knowledge and experience meant that students often found it difficult to engage with this very complex, conceptual and controversial area of health and social care. The use of visual methodologies in learning mental health and illness was being examined here with a view to its potential for overcoming this obstacle in the students’ learning and further assisting students in their conceptual understanding of the subject. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 30 participants were recruited from a student population of 44 undergraduates studying a module at level three on mental health. Ethics and consent were secured by giving students full information to decide whether to be part of the study group. The methodology of interpretative phenomenological analysis was the philosophical framework used for the study and this was directed using a five-staged process. Data were collected through group discussions and collation of the students analysis ...

Developing inclusive environments in mental health provision for people with disabilities

Purpose – The increased use of mental health interventions employing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) over the last decade raises the significant theme of the efficacy of such treatments for people with disabilities. Recent evidence‐based studies regarding the application of cognitive behavioural interventions for people with disabilities have highlighted issues concerning access to services, questions of engagement and efficacy of the cognitive aspects of CBT practice and service models and forms of delivery. The purpose of this paper is to explore these themes with particular emphasis on barriers to accessibility for this population and provide consideration of ethical and effective practice aspects of psychological interventions in response to the recent World Health Organisation recommendations on disability provision.Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers the development of the “enabling environments” theme for people with disabilities within a mental health context within Europe, with ...