Nick Gould and Joanna Richardson
This article reports on the first health technology appraisal conducted jointly between the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Social Care Institute…
Abstract
This article reports on the first health technology appraisal conducted jointly between the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). The appraisal systematically reviewed evidence for the clinical effectiveness of parent‐training/education programmes in the management of children with conduct disorders. This appraisal is highly topical in the light of cross‐cutting policy agendas concerned with increasing parenting capacity. It is also methodologically innovative in its approach to synthesising the meta‐analysis of trial evidence on outcomes of programmes with qualitative evidence on process and implementation. The appraisal found parent‐training/education programmes to be effective in the management of children with conduct disorders, and it identifies the generic characteristics of effective programmes. It is concluded that this approach offers an exemplar for the development of systematic reviewing of complex psychosocial interventions that are relevant to integrated children's services.
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Michael Little and Nick Axford
This article reviews the first volume of the Journal of Children's Services. In doing so, it discusses broader directions and challenges in research, policy and practice. The…
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This article reviews the first volume of the Journal of Children's Services. In doing so, it discusses broader directions and challenges in research, policy and practice. The article focuses on discussion about outcomes, the ‘idea’ of children's services and the impact of interventions on children's health and development. It welcomes reflections on different approaches to outcome measurement, analyses of the practicalities of implementing policy reforms and rigorous evaluations of the impact of Early Years, parenting and other programmes. At the same time, it suggests specific areas in which more work would be valuable, including: socio‐political commentary on policy developments; methods of and results from need analyses; empirical research on inter‐agency initiatives; how to improve the processes and structures that underpin good outcomes; transitions; and understanding ‘what works’ in research dissemination and utilisation. The value of international perspectives (including intra‐UK comparisons) is stressed. Forthcoming special editions on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (2007) and anti‐social behaviour by young people (2008) will help to address other points raised.
Two learning sets have been established for senior managers who are responsible for social care in what are traditionally health service organisations. For the future health and…
Abstract
Two learning sets have been established for senior managers who are responsible for social care in what are traditionally health service organisations. For the future health and welfare of wider society and the economy it is vital that mental health remains part of the local authority agenda and that social perspectives, care and inclusion become an integral part of the ‘health’ agenda.This article explores the value of the two learning sets, one supported by NIMHE and the second by SCIE, to its participants and the organisations that they serve.
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Madeleine Parkes, Katja Milner and Peter Gilbert
People go into employment for a range of reasons. One of those is usually to find a sense of meaning, as humans are meaning‐seeking animals.In the public sector there is even more…
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People go into employment for a range of reasons. One of those is usually to find a sense of meaning, as humans are meaning‐seeking animals.In the public sector there is even more likelihood of some kind of ‘calling’. This may not be a religious call, or even an overtly spiritual one, but there will usually be some sense in which the role and the individual reach out to one another.In a time of recession and strain on public finances and services, leaders need to work in a way that appeals to the spirit, the vocation in each person and the team.