The mental health and wellbeing of youth in care and care-leavers: Development of a national collaborative research agenda

目前，估计有75,000多名儿童和青年目前在英国国家托儿所(McGhee等人)。2017年)，更大比例的儿童人口在他们一生中的某个时候经历某种形式的国家照顾。儿童由于各种原因和通过一些不同的法律途径进入国家照顾，但有一个共同的线索，即儿童经历了一系列逆境，包括虐待、丧失和贫困，这些逆境塑造了他们的看护前和看护中的经历，并影响了他们的心理健康和福祉(Baldwin等人，2019年)。在英国，大多数年轻人从学龄或更大年龄开始接受护理，这意味着在许多情况下，这些不利的经历特别长。在英国，青春期是目前进入护理系统的增长最快的年龄段。虽然人们越来越关注儿童和年轻人的心理健康和福祉(Frith 2016)，但特别关注被照顾的儿童(Bazalgette等人)。2015年)。被照顾的年轻人的精神健康问题的发生率一直比一般青年人口高得多，几乎一半被照顾的儿童(以及四分之三的寄宿儿童)符合精神障碍的标准(Ford等人，2007年；Meltzer等人，2003年)。在英国，接受护理的年轻人符合精神障碍标准的可能性是同龄人的五倍。造成这种情况的原因有很多，包括儿童在进入国家托儿所之前经历的虐待、忽视和剥削等逆境，以及一些托儿所儿童在托儿所期间的经历，这可能会增加和加剧他们所经历的困难。这个项目试图解决我们对如何理解受照顾者的心理健康需求和发展轨迹，以及我们如何以可能有所帮助的方式作出反应的知识不足的问题。我们正在寻求通过这个项目将研究人员、在学校和护理机构与这群年轻人一起工作的个人、政策制定者和有过受国家照顾经验的个人聚集在一起。该项目将涉及一些工作包，旨在：与有护理经验的年轻人合作，探索心理健康是如何定义的，以及我们应该探索的关键问题；探索我们如何概念化被照顾的年轻人的心理健康需求，以及我们如何能够和应该以可能有效和被年轻人接受的方式做出反应；讨论在进行高质量研究时可能有用和现实的研究方法的范围；来自研究、实践和生活经验的专家一致认为，研究研究可以衡量和评估年轻人的心理健康以及新工作方式的影响；并制定一种方法来培训和支持非心理健康从业者，以更好地识别和支持年轻人及其心理健康。

At present it is estimated that over 75,000 children and young people are currently in state care in the UK (McGhee et al. 2017), with a larger proportion of the child population experiencing some form of state care at some point in their lives. Children come into the care of the state for a variety of reasons and through a number of different legal routes, but there is a common thread of children having experienced a range of adversities, including maltreatment, loss, and poverty, which shape both their pre- and in-care experiences and impact on their mental health and well-being (Baldwin et al, 2019). In the UK, most young people enter care from school age or older, meaning in many cases these adverse experiences have been particularly prolonged. Adolescence is the fastest growing age-group currently entering the care system in the UK.While there are increasing concerns about the mental health and well-being of children and young people in general (Frith 2016), there are particular concerns about looked after children in particular (Bazalgette et al. 2015). Young people who are looked after have consistently been found to have much higher rates of mental health difficulties than the general youth population, with almost half of looked after children (and three quarters of those living in residential group care) meeting the criteria for a psychiatric disorder (Ford et al 2007; Meltzer et al 2003). Young people in care in the UK are five times more likely to meet the criteria for a psychiatric disorder compared to their peers. There are many reasons for this, including the adversities experienced by children before coming into state care, such as abuse, neglect and exploitation, along with the experiences which some children in care experience during their time in care, which can both add to and exacerbate the difficulties they experience.This project seeks to address the deficit in our knowledge about how we understand the mental health needs and trajectories of young people who are looked after, and how we can respond in ways which are likely to be helpful. We are seeking to bring together through this project researchers, individuals who work with this group of young people in schools and care settings, policy makers and individuals with lived experience of being looked after by the state.The project will involve a number of workpackages aiming to: work with care experienced young people to explore how mental health is defined, and the key issues we should be exploring; explore how we conceptualise the mental health needs of young people who are looked after, and how we could and should respond in ways which are likely to be effective and acceptable to young people; discuss the range of research approaches which are likely to be useful and realistic in undertaking high quality research; agreeing amongst experts from research, practice and with lived experience, the ways that research studies can measure and assess the mental health of young people and the impact of new ways of working; and to develop an approach to training and supporting non-mental health practitioners to better identify and support young people and their mental health.