Search results for ‘Subject term:"looked after children"’ Sort:
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Looked after children's health: key official guidance documents
- Authors:
- NATIONAL CHILDREN'S BUREAU, THE CHILDREN'S PARTNERSHIP
- Publishers:
- National Children's Bureau, The Children's Partnership
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 14
- Place of publication:
- London
An interactive tool enabling easy access to key official guidance documents (published by government or government sponsored agencies) relating to looked after children’s health from one place. The tool provides an overview of each document and links to full text. The guidance signposted in this tool covers three key areas: process for planning individual care; working directly with looked after children and young people; and planning services at population level. (Edited publisher abstract)
The health surveillance of children in care - are there serious problems?
- Author:
- SIMMS Madeleine
- Journal article citation:
- Adoption and Fostering, 12(4), 1988, pp.20-23.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Reports on a survey in two London boroughs and associated health districts.
Promoting the health of children in public care: the essential guide for health and social work professionals and commissioners
- Editors:
- MERREDEW Florence, SAMPEYS Carolyn
- Publisher:
- British Association for Adoption and Fostering
- Publication year:
- 2015
- Pagination:
- 336
- Place of publication:
- London
Provides comprehensive advice on all aspects of the health of looked after and adopted children and their families, along with summaries of the relevant legislation, regulations and guidance. With contributions from medical and social work practitioners, the chapters follow a child’s journey through care and include information on: the health of looked after children, including mental health and well-being; pathways through care and issues of consent; the particular needs of groups of vulnerable children, including black and minority ethnic children, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, those who are privately fostered or adopted from overseas, and care leavers; the assessment of adult carers, and common health concerns; confidentiality, information sharing and management of health records; and quality assurance, audit, clinical governance and commissioning. Whilst the legal information contained in the book specifically covers England, Northern Ireland and Wales, the wealth of practical advice may be of equal benefit to workers in Scotland and outside the UK. (Edited publisher abstract)
Care Matters: white paper verdict
- Author:
- COOPER Sarah
- Journal article citation:
- Children Now, 27.06.07, 2007, pp.12-13.
- Publisher:
- Haymarket
Plans for improving services for children in care were outlined in the Department for Education and Skills 'Care Matters: Time for Change white paper. This article examines the main points of the white paper, focusing on education, health, social work practices and care placements.
Looked after children: caring for health
- Author:
- PAYNE Heather
- Journal article citation:
- Childright, 231, November 2006, pp.18-21.
- Publisher:
- Children's Legal Centre
This article looks at the health outcomes of 'looked after' children and what is being done to provide them with equal access to appropriate health services. It focuses on the health status of looked after children in England Wales.
The health needs of young people in care
- Author:
- HENDRIKS Jean Harris
- Journal article citation:
- Adoption and Fostering, 13(1), 1989, pp.43-50.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Considers physical and mental health, particularly post traumatic stress disorder, and health education.
Educational and health outcomes of schoolchildren in local authority care in Scotland: a retrospective record linkage study
- Authors:
- FLEMING Michael, et al
- Journal article citation:
- PLOS Medicine, 18(11), 2021, p.e1003832.
- Publisher:
- Plos Publications
Background: Looked after children are defined as children who are in the care of their local authority. Previous studies have reported that looked after children have poorer mental and physical health, increased behavioural problems, and increased self-harm and mortality compared to peers. They also experience poorer educational outcomes, yet population-wide research into the latter is lacking, particularly in the United Kingdom. Education and health share a bidirectional relationship; therefore, it is important to dually investigate both outcomes. Our study aimed to compare educational and health outcomes for looked after children with peers, adjusting for sociodemographic, maternity, and comorbidity confounders. Methods and findings: Linkage of 9 Scotland-wide databases, covering dispensed prescriptions, hospital admissions, maternity records, death certificates, annual pupil census, examinations, school absences/exclusions, unemployment, and looked after children provided retrospective data on 715,111 children attending Scottish schools between 2009 and 2012 (13,898 [1.9%] looked after). Compared to peers, 13,898 (1.9%) looked after children were more likely to be absent (adjusted incidence rate ratio [AIRR] 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24 to 1.30) and excluded (AIRR 4.09, 95% CI 3.86 to 4.33) from school, have special educational need (SEN; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.48, 95% CI 3.35 to 3.62) and neurodevelopmental multimorbidity (AOR 2.45, 95% CI 2.34 to 2.57), achieve the lowest level of academic attainment (AOR 5.92, 95% CI 5.17 to 6.78), and be unemployed after leaving school (AOR 2.12, 95% CI 1.96 to 2.29). They were more likely to require treatment for epilepsy (AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.27 to 1.78), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; AOR 3.01, 95% CI 2.76 to 3.27), and depression (AOR 1.90, 95% CI 1.62 to 2.22), be hospitalised overall (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 1.23, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.28) for injury (AHR 1.80, 95% CI 1.69 to 1.91) and self-harm (AHR 5.19, 95% CI 4.66 to 5.78), and die prematurely (AHR 3.21, 95% CI 2.16 to 4.77). Compared to children looked after at home, children looked after away from home had less absenteeism (AIRR 0.35, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.36), less exclusion (AIRR 0.63, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.71), less unemployment (AOR 0.53, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.62), and better attainment (AIRR 0.31, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.40). Therefore, among those in care, being cared for away from home appeared to be a protective factor resulting in better educational outcomes. The main limitations of this study were lack of data on local authority care preschool or before 2009, total time spent in care, and age of first contact with social care. Conclusions: Looked after children had poorer health and educational outcomes than peers independent of increased neurodevelopmental conditions and SEN. Further work is required to understand whether poorer outcomes relate to reasons for entering care, including maltreatment and adverse childhood events, neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities, or characteristics of the care system. (Edited publisher abstract)
Cohort profile: The ‘Children’s Health in Care in Scotland’ (CHiCS) study - a longitudinal dataset to compare health outcomes for care experienced children and general population children
- Authors:
- ALLIK Mirjam, et al
- Journal article citation:
- BMJ Open, 11(9), 2021, Online only
- Publisher:
- BMJ Publishing Group
Purpose: The Children’s Health in Care in Scotland Cohorts were set up to provide first population-wide evidence on the health outcomes of care experienced children (CEC) compared with children in the general population (CGP). To date, there are no data on how objective health outcomes, mortality and pregnancies for CEC are different from CGP in Scotland. Participants: The CEC cohort includes school-aged children who were on the 2009/2010 Scottish Government’s Children Looked After Statistics (CLAS) return and on the 2009 Pupil Census (PC). The children in the general population cohort includes those who were on the 2009 PC and not on any of the CLAS returns between 1 April 2007 and 31 July 2016. Findings to date: Data on a variety of health outcomes, including mortality, prescriptions, hospitalisations, pregnancies, and Accident and Emergency attendances, were obtained for the period 1 August 2009 to 31 July 2016 for both cohorts. Data on socioeconomic status (SES) for both cohorts were available from the Birth Registrations and a small area deprivation measure was available from the PC. CEC have, on average, lower SES at birth and live in areas of higher deprivation compared with CGP. A higher proportion of CEC have recorded events across all health data sets, and they experienced higher average rates of mortality, prescriptions and hospitalisations during the study period. The reasons for contacting health services vary between cohorts. Future plans: Age-standardised rates for the two cohorts by sex and area deprivation will be calculated to provide evidence on population-wide prevalence of main causes of death, reasons for hospitalisation and types of prescription. Event history analysis will be used on matched cohorts to investigate the impact of placement histories and socioeconomic factors on health. (Edited publisher abstract)
Interventions and practice models for improving health and psychosocial outcomes for children in residential out-of-home care: systematic review
- Authors:
- GALVIN Emma, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Australian Social Work, early cite 11 April 2021, pp.1-15.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Young people in residential out-of-home care often exhibit health and psychosocial challenges, which can emerge from childhood trauma. A body of research has examined the wellbeing of these young people; however, the ways in which interventions and practice models can improve the health and psychosocial wellbeing of young people in out-of-home care remains unclear. A systematic review was conducted to examine the effectiveness of interventions and practice models for improving health and psychosocial outcomes of young people in residential care and to identify relevant knowledge gaps. After a worldwide search, only four studies, from Australia (n = 2), USA (n = 1), and Canada (n = 1) were found. These studies evaluated Cognitive Behaviour Treatment, Healthy Eating Active Living, Power Through Choices and the Alternate Care Clinic. These studies aimed to improve numerous health and psychosocial outcomes including mental health, behaviour, obesity, pregnancy and sex. Despite limited evidence, the review suggests that contemporary interventions and practice models do have the potential to have positive impacts on the health and psychosocial outcomes of young people in residential care. Rigorous assessment of promising evidence-based interventions is urgently needed to advance best practice and improve outcomes. (Edited publisher abstract)
What makes a looked after child happy and unhappy?
- Authors:
- NELSON Peter, HOMER Catherine, MARTIN Richard
- Journal article citation:
- Adoption and Fostering, 44(1), 2020, pp.20-36.
- Publisher:
- Sage
What is good for a looked after child is usually decided by adults with the child’s voice often peripheral. One way to make the child central to decision-making is to ask them what makes them happy or unhappy. In doing this, the definition of happiness has to be neither a description of what has gone well in life nor an immediate state of mind, but should encompass the Aristotelian concept of eudaimonia. This is often translated as happiness but also incorporates notions of well-being and flourishing. The study reported here was undertaken as part of a children’s health needs assessment in an English local authority. It sought to understand why looked after children experience such high levels of poor mental health and make growing demands on therapeutic services. The proportion of young people displaying above average scores on validated measures, such as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), is growing each year. The aim was to find out what looked after children say makes them happy and unhappy and what they see as likely to increase their well-being, and to compare their suggestions with those of the professionals and carers involved in their lives. Focus groups with children and professionals then discussed the same question, with the professionals also examining their understanding of SDQ results and their relevance to practice. The study found significant differences between the views of the children and professionals in both the range and emphasis of what is seen as important. Moreover, these adult assumptions were rarely tested by meaningful discussions with young people when key decisions were made; indeed, these seemed to be made about rather than with the children. In addition, the SDQ was not widely used by professionals to assess children’s emotional health and well-being needs. The study concluded that discussions about happiness can usefully support holistic understandings of looked after children’s experiences and aid planning and practice development. (Edited publisher abstract)