Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist review

<strong>Objectives <br></strong>Life Story Work (LSW) is used to promote the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents living in out-of-home care. LSW should be offered to all but is conventionally delivered in high-intensity ways. Low-intensity approaches are more a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hammond, SP, Mickleburgh, E, Duddy, C, Hiller, R, Neil, E, Blackett, R, Williams, K, Wilson, J, Wong, GR
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2023
_version_ 1797111517559128064
author Hammond, SP
Mickleburgh, E
Duddy, C
Hiller, R
Neil, E
Blackett, R
Williams, K
Wilson, J
Wong, GR
author_facet Hammond, SP
Mickleburgh, E
Duddy, C
Hiller, R
Neil, E
Blackett, R
Williams, K
Wilson, J
Wong, GR
author_sort Hammond, SP
collection OXFORD
description <strong>Objectives <br></strong>Life Story Work (LSW) is used to promote the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents living in out-of-home care. LSW should be offered to all but is conventionally delivered in high-intensity ways. Low-intensity approaches are more accessible but there is significant variation and little guidance for supporting adolescents. We aimed to create guidance for Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW. <br><strong> Design <br></strong>Realist review. <br><strong> Data sources <br></strong>MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Sociology Collection (ProQuest), CINAHL, CDAS, Web of Science (SCIE, SSCI), Social Care Online and grey literature sources. Searches were performed between December 2021 and March 2022. <br><strong> Eligibility criteria <br></strong>Documents on children and adolescents in care, LSW and/or low-intensity interventions to improve mental health were included. Documents focusing on parenting style and contact with birth family were excluded. <br><strong> Analysis <br></strong>Documents were analysed using a realist logic of analysis. In consultation with Content Expert Groups (comprising professionals and care leavers), we developed an initial programme theory. Data relating to and challenging the initial programme theory were extracted and context-mechanism-outcome-configurations developed, critiqued and refined in an iterative fashion. Interpretations were drawn from context-mechanism-outcome-configurations to enhance the programme theory. <br><strong> Results <br></strong>75 documents contributed to the analysis. Generally, studies were small-scale and lacked in-depth methods and evaluation descriptions. Findings indicated important factors contribute to the development of high-quality Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW. Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW should be person-centred, begin in the now, involve co-construction, record everyday positive life events and be supported by trained carer(s). Context-mechanism-outcome-configurations relating to these themes are reported. <br><strong> Conclusions <br></strong>Using this knowledge we developed initial practice guidance to support social care to deliver better quality Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW more consistently. To address gaps in our knowledge about the impact of Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW, further primary research is needed to strengthen understandings of how this intervention works (or not) in different contexts. <br><strong> PROSPERO registration number <br></strong>CRD42021279816.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T08:10:00Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:b2e72613-1b76-49d9-ae8e-97b4559334fa
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T08:10:00Z
publishDate 2023
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:b2e72613-1b76-49d9-ae8e-97b4559334fa2023-11-17T13:04:55ZImproving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist reviewJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b2e72613-1b76-49d9-ae8e-97b4559334faEnglishSymplectic ElementsBMJ Publishing Group2023Hammond, SPMickleburgh, EDuddy, CHiller, RNeil, EBlackett, RWilliams, KWilson, JWong, GR<strong>Objectives <br></strong>Life Story Work (LSW) is used to promote the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents living in out-of-home care. LSW should be offered to all but is conventionally delivered in high-intensity ways. Low-intensity approaches are more accessible but there is significant variation and little guidance for supporting adolescents. We aimed to create guidance for Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW. <br><strong> Design <br></strong>Realist review. <br><strong> Data sources <br></strong>MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Sociology Collection (ProQuest), CINAHL, CDAS, Web of Science (SCIE, SSCI), Social Care Online and grey literature sources. Searches were performed between December 2021 and March 2022. <br><strong> Eligibility criteria <br></strong>Documents on children and adolescents in care, LSW and/or low-intensity interventions to improve mental health were included. Documents focusing on parenting style and contact with birth family were excluded. <br><strong> Analysis <br></strong>Documents were analysed using a realist logic of analysis. In consultation with Content Expert Groups (comprising professionals and care leavers), we developed an initial programme theory. Data relating to and challenging the initial programme theory were extracted and context-mechanism-outcome-configurations developed, critiqued and refined in an iterative fashion. Interpretations were drawn from context-mechanism-outcome-configurations to enhance the programme theory. <br><strong> Results <br></strong>75 documents contributed to the analysis. Generally, studies were small-scale and lacked in-depth methods and evaluation descriptions. Findings indicated important factors contribute to the development of high-quality Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW. Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW should be person-centred, begin in the now, involve co-construction, record everyday positive life events and be supported by trained carer(s). Context-mechanism-outcome-configurations relating to these themes are reported. <br><strong> Conclusions <br></strong>Using this knowledge we developed initial practice guidance to support social care to deliver better quality Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW more consistently. To address gaps in our knowledge about the impact of Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity LSW, further primary research is needed to strengthen understandings of how this intervention works (or not) in different contexts. <br><strong> PROSPERO registration number <br></strong>CRD42021279816.
spellingShingle Hammond, SP
Mickleburgh, E
Duddy, C
Hiller, R
Neil, E
Blackett, R
Williams, K
Wilson, J
Wong, GR
Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist review
title Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist review
title_full Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist review
title_fullStr Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist review
title_full_unstemmed Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist review
title_short Improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out-of-home care via Adolescent-Focused Low-Intensity Life Story Work: a realist review
title_sort improving the mental health and mental health support available to adolescents in out of home care via adolescent focused low intensity life story work a realist review
work_keys_str_mv AT hammondsp improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview
AT mickleburghe improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview
AT duddyc improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview
AT hillerr improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview
AT neile improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview
AT blackettr improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview
AT williamsk improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview
AT wilsonj improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview
AT wonggr improvingthementalhealthandmentalhealthsupportavailabletoadolescentsinoutofhomecareviaadolescentfocusedlowintensitylifestoryworkarealistreview