Completed projects

Find examples of some of the projects we have worked on previously.

National Institute for Health and Care Research

We worked with colleagues in DECIPHer on a review of interventions to improve mental health and wellbeing of children and young people who have experienced care (CHIMES systematic review). The review aimed to assess the success of different programmes at improving mental health and wellbeing of children and young people as well as looking at the challenges to delivering to such programmes. The review suggested that mentoring is a potential programme that could be used in the UK to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Additionally, the review found that more support was needed to help carers and organisations work together.

Welsh Government

Together with colleagues in DECIPHer, we were funded by the Welsh Government for a rapid review of school and community-based counselling. The review looked at the effectiveness of counselling for children and young people and considered the barriers and facilitators to implementation. The review suggested that school and community-based counselling may have positive impacts for children and young people. Evidence was also found on features that are important for a high-quality service, which included flexible delivery, raising awareness of counselling, providing appropriate space, and prioritising high-quality relationships between stakeholders. Additionally, children and young people valued choice and being involved in decision-making about counselling services.

What Works for Children’s Social Care

The What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care aimed to improve the lives of children and families by examining evidence for children’s social care. We worked with colleagues in the School of Social Science on a suite of scoping and systematic reviews to identify, appraise and synthesise the extant evidence base. This included a scoping review about interventions to reduce the numbers of children and young people entering care and a systematic review of interventions of the retention, mental health and wellbeing of child and family social workers. Additionally, we conducted research on searching for studies in children’s social care and the use of different tools and techniques.