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NIHR Children and Families Policy Research Unit
We have a dedicated strategy for children, young people, parents, and public involvement which can be viewed here.
Latest News
CPRU investigates the promotion of safer sleeping for babies in high-risk groups in England
We carried out a mixed methods study of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI).
Our findings suggest that change to current practice is needed if the risk of SUDI in this particular group of families is to be further reduced.
Home Office comissioned CPRU review of tools measuring the domestic violence and abuse core outcomes (DVA-COS)
What's school like for teenagers with a social worker: a conversation with care leavers in Southampton
Listen to this podcast below:
Summary of the 'research priorities for policy on child and adolescent mental health’ from the Catherine Peckham Symposium is now available
Thank you to Astrid Guttmann, Jessica Deighton, Chris Bonell, Roz Shafran and all audience members, both in person and online, for engaging in these important discussions on mental health.
Recordings are now available: CPRU Otto Wolff Lecture: 'Measuring and Moving on the Child and Youth Mental Healthcare System' and the Catherine Peckham Symposium: 'The power of data for child and family mental health research'
All talks from the events have now been published, so those unable to attend can still view the events here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxZBmBgWXdf7gMk_8uujV6eM5pedR9CW6
New project on the inequalities in health trajectories of vulnerable adolescents as they transition into adulthood
We are exploring the healthcare pathways of vulnerable young people who either have a neurodevelopmental condition or have received social and special educational needs support. We want to identify which groups have higher healthcare needs and might benefit from earlier support, whether these are exacerbated by several indicators of inequalities and whether they receive continuing statutory support post-age 16 including support from social care and youth custody.
CPRU the Otto Wolff Lecture: 'Measuring and Moving on the Child and Youth Mental Healthcare System: Reflections from Canada' and the Catherine Peckham symposium: 'The power of data for child and family mental health research' - 2nd November 2022
The events are open to anyone who has a background or interest in child and family mental health research. Read more here or register to attend the events below:
CPRU investigates the impact of early intervention for mental health in children (HeadStart) on school absenteeism, exclusion and age 16 attainment (GCSEs) of state-educated secondary school pupils in England
New project on measuring child development at the 2-2½ year health review in England
We are investigating tools to measure child development at 2-2½ years. We are assessing how well tools would identify children in need of further support in England, how well they match priorities of policy makers, practitioners and parents and how feasible they might be to implement across England in the universal health review for children aged 2-2½.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
How I cope: a young person's guide
How I cope: a young person's guide is a new resource created by young people for young people about how young people cope and like to receive support. It was developed by CPRU, with the HeadStart Learning Team, and the HeadStart National Young People's Group.
New project on cost of child maltreatment
Exposure to child maltreatment and/or parental domestic vioelnce and abuse in childhood was associated with increased risks of poorer outcomes across a range of measures including physical and mental health, behaviours known to pose health risks, employment and earnings.
New project on access to primary care
We hope to find out which groups experience difficulties in accessing primary care, and how primary care services could better address these difficulties.
New project on promoting safe sleeping for babies in high risk groups in England
CPRU explores programme implementers' perspectives on collecting and using cost data
What we found out
- Programme sites varied in terms of how much cost data they had collected, the extent to which they had begun planning or implementing local cost data analysis, and the degree to which they ascribed importance to cost data analysis as compared to impact data analysis.
- The relative importance of cost data collection, analysis, and presentation to programme implementors may be driven in part by their perceptions of audience priorities (such as those of schools, the community, or commissioners).
- Barriers to collecting and using cost data include the difficulties of costing a complex programme, contextual constraints, missing data, and the limitations of economic evaluation tools.
CPRU develops core outcome sets for family and child-focused interventions for child maltreatment and domestic abuse
We developed two core outcome sets that those who use, deliver and commission services agreed were the most important to measure.
CPRU reports on changes in hospital contacts during the COVID-19 pandemic among vulnerable children and young people
We found that vulnerable children bore large and disproportionate deficits in hospital contacts during the first nine months of the pandemic. These deficits were greatest for children with multiple vulnerabilities.
New data resource: Dashboard on Special Educational Needs in England
We have developed a resource that outlines data on the characteristics of SEN pupils and funding for SEN provision for local authorities in England.
Access Dashboard (for full functionality download copy to your computer)
Are infant mortality rates increasing in England?
Infant mortality (deaths in babies aged less than one year old) has been declining over past decades in England. Recently published data show that infant mortality appears to be going up since 2014, with some linking this trend to increases in child poverty. We used routinely published data from Office for National Statistics (openly available online) to explore why infant mortality might be going up.
Dyslexia and Mental Health
Higher levels of mental health problems in those with reading difficulties such as dyslexia are widely recognised. But the reasons for this are less clear. Our rapid review looked at existing evidence on the relationship between poor reading ability and/or reading disorders including dyslexia, and mental health problems.
We found three key pathways that explain the raised levels of prevalence.
Using the community services dataset (CSDS) for research on health visiting
Health visiting is a national service focused on promoting the health and development of young children and reducing the impact of adversity and inequalities. Information about health visiting activity in England is collected in the Community Services Dataset (CSDS). The CSDS has not yet been used for research. We investigated the completeness and accuracy of dataset by looking specifically at the delivery of the 2-2.5 year review.
