Inter-agency collaboration to support children with mental health needs

The difficulty of getting help for children with emotional and mental health needs is well recognised, especially where they do not have diagnosed mental illness but nonetheless have emotional or behavioural problems. The research will focus on one Welsh example of inter-agency collaboration to provide earlier help to children - SPACE well-being panels in the Gwent region. The aim is to understand how this collaboration works and what lessons can be learned from their operation.

Given the direct involvement in the research of children with emotional and mental health needs and their families, as well as some NHS staff, the research may require ethical approval through the NHS research ethics process, although the appropriate route for approval will need to be confirmed once the student's project is more defined. If not the NHS research ethics process, the study would need ethical approval from the School of Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee.