Attitudes to using outcome measures in children's services: a systematic review

Abstract

One in eight children in the UK experience a mental disorder, which increases when we look at looked after children’s prevalence alone. Due to these climbing rates, the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies program was introduced, which involves the mandatory inclusion of routine outcome measures (ROMS) in England. However, this increased implementation of ROMs has often been met with uncertainty by professionals. Whilst research into attitudes regarding ROMs has already been conducted in children’s services, no systematic review exists looking at this population’s views regarding this form of monitoring. The current research sought to systematically review attitudes to using ROMs in children’s services, and to specifically consider these findings in relation to looked after children, including those in residential care. Results showed that overall positive views were held regarding the use of ROMs by clinicians, families, and young people alike. However only three studies included children/adolescents as participants, with no studies considering looked after children, making it hard to decipher the true opinions of young people with regard to ROMS. Future directions include putting the child’s beliefs more at the heart of ROMs research, engaging looked after children in research by actively asking for their thoughts on the use of ROMs, and making ROMs more accessible for all children.

Keywords

• systematic review
• routine outcome measures
• attitudes
• children
• adolescents
• looked after children
• uk