Acceptability, feasibility and perceived effectiveness of online and remote mental health and wellbeing interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study with care-experienced young people, carers and professionals

Evans, Rhiannon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0239-6331, Cunningham, Emily, Stabler, Lorna, Vaughan, Rachel, Davies, Brittany, Cummings, Aimee ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0538-9284, Boffey, Maria, Wooders, Charlotte and Mannay, Dawn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7368-4111 2024. Acceptability, feasibility and perceived effectiveness of online and remote mental health and wellbeing interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study with care-experienced young people, carers and professionals. Children and Youth Services Review 156 , 107321. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107321

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, and associated lockdowns, saw numerous services move to online and remote delivery. This included mental health and wellbeing interventions for care-experienced young people. To date there has been limited consideration of how different stakeholders experienced the receipt or delivery of remote provision during this period. We conducted online one-to-one and small group interviews with: young people with experience of care (n = 3); a young person whose biological parents were foster carers (n = 1); foster and kinship carers (n = 10); and social care and affiliated professionals (n = 9). We further engaged with relevant stakeholder consultation groups to refine and confirm study findings. Five central themes were generated, that reflected participants’ experience of a range of services, while also serving as recommendations for the future development and optimisation of provision: 1) Awareness: there is a lack of general awareness of mental health provision and understanding of what is available to support care-experienced young people, and a specific lack of knowledge regarding online support; 2) Choice and tailoring: young people need choice and flexibility in identifying provision that best suits their needs, and this includes the decision to receive online, blended or in-person services; 3) Training: carers and professionals need training on how to foster relationships with young people online and how to ensure safety and child protection; 4) Safety, protection and risk: young people need to have safe and private spaces when accessing online services; and 5) Access and resources: care-experienced young people don’t always have access to online support, and need appropriate technological devices that don’t have prohibitive restrictions. Taken together, the study findings offer insight into how interventions and services may be developed and optimised moving forward to ensure that they are meeting the needs of young people in care, and maximize likely effectiveness.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer) Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0190-7409
Funders:	ESRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 December 2023
Date of Acceptance:	7 November 2023
Last Modified:	03 Jan 2024 15:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/164628

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