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This protocol summarises plans for a systematic review of interventions, practices and programmes aimed at improving outcomes for vulnerable children and their parents.
There is strong evidence showing the potential benefits of parenting interventions for the wellbeing of children supported by early help and children’s social care (CSC) services. However, there is a need to identify the interventions and practice elements that are effective in working with families experiencing complex and multiple problems, and to find out what works in different contexts and for different groups of families.
As such, we have commissioned the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) to conduct a systematic review which aims to identify and describe:
The research questions for this review are:
The review questions will be answered by a meta-analysis.
The review will include studies which focus on parents or carers of children with a mean age of up to 10 years, defined as having more complex and multiple needs. All included studies will be either randomised controlled trials or cluster-randomised controlled trials, and must deliver an intervention where at least 50% of sessions or content is directed at parents aimed at improving knowledge, skills or behaviours. The outcomes of interest are broad but, in summary, focus on child safety, well-being and improving later-life outcomes.
Included literature is not restricted by country, however, the review will place importance on the applicability of findings to the UK context, particularly in relation to an intervention’s ability to be implemented within the UK context.
This project also includes a rapid qualitative synthesis to explore enablers and barriers to intervention engagement and understand user perspectives on intervention delivery and effectiveness.
