Project awarded funding to explore impact of integrated community service delivery models in coastal areas
A research partnership of universities, community health providers and local councils has been awarded funding by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to examine how integrated community service delivery models in coastal areas across England affect children, young people and their families.
Children and young people in England experience some of the poorest health outcomes and services in Europe, with health inequalities particularly marked between the north and south of the country.
This is even more pronounced in coastal areas of England where deprivation is high, and social determinants of health such as housing, education, access to services, infrastructure, employment and social mobility play an important part in children and young people’s lives.
There are also uneven numbers of children in care or young people leaving care in some coastal areas and, for them, health outcomes are even worse.
The new project is being led by Professor Sally Kendall from the University of Kent and Professor Sheena Asthana at the University of Plymouth. Lasting 30 months, it will also involve researchers from the University of Lincoln, University of Manchester, University of Warwick and Torbay Council, as well as representatives from Kent County Council, Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust and members of the public with expertise by experience.
With children and young peoples’ experience at the heart of the study, the researchers will take a realist approach to building a model of integrated health and care services for children and young people that work for them in coastal contexts and different circumstances. It will address gaps in knowledge around how such models impact on the experiences, lives and health consequences for children and young people.
Professor Kendall, Professor of Community Nursing and Public Health at the University of Kent, said: “We know that children and young people in England experience some of the greatest inequalities in health and well-being in Europe. This is especially true in coastal regions. It is really important as integration of health and care services develop that we put children and young people at the centre and use their experiences and perspectives to inform policy and service organisation and delivery to ensure that every child receives the care they need when they need it“.
Professor Asthana, Co-Director of the Centre for Coastal Communities at the University of Plymouth, said: “There is growing awareness of deep inequalities between coastal and non-coastal parts of England with respect to the challenges facing children and young people. We hope that understanding how the many services designed to support this group can be better coordinated should only improve quality and access but, by making better use of the resources available, ensure that no young person is failed by the system.”
This project aims to understand:
- What models of health and care services exist for children and young people in coastal areas, how well they are connected and how they work;
- How these service models are accessed and attended, and what helps or interferes with children and young people getting the support they need;
- How children, young people and their families experience their local coastal health and care service models;
- What difference being able to access community health and care services makes for children and young people’s health in coastal areas;
- What are the costs and benefits of having health and care services working together in ways designed to benefit children and young people in coastal areas.
The study is guided by advisory groups of young people aged between 11 and 18 years old and parents/carers living in coastal towns in England who have experience of their local services. Through working together across the life of the study, these advisory groups will ensure the work is useful, makes sense to and has value for children/young people, their families and the services they need in coastal communities. After taking part in local research skills training, our young advisers will also have the chance to test out their new skills as part of the study.
The project team will use realist evaluation methods to provide a way of understanding what coastal community service models work for children and young people, and under what circumstances, as well as undertaking a scoping review of the existing evidence.
Following ethics approval, the project will hold interviews and focus groups in up to four case study sites from diverse coastal areas of England, in addition to surveys and analysis of local public health and administrative data.
It is hoped the findings will provide evidence for policy and service organisation, to help to establish how integrated community service models can be best delivered to help to improve the health and social care of children and young people and their families living in coastal areas in England.