Distress Brief Intervention - under 18s elements: evaluation

1. Appendix: Detailed research questions

• Was the intervention implemented as planned for 16- and 17-year-olds, and in the u16s test-of-change studies, and if not, why not? What changes have been made over time?
• What changes if any are required in the design or implementation of DBI with young people compared with its use in adults? Are there specific barriers and challenges to implementing the intervention in this age group?
• How does this service fit alongside existing counselling and support services available to young people – both in schools and in the local community?
• What training has been provided for those delivering the intervention and has this met their needs?
• To what extent have children and young people been involved in the expansion of DBI to u18 and u16 age groups?
• How can parents and carers of those referred to the service be engaged in the evaluation to explore the benefits/unintended consequences produced by the intervention?
• What kind of referrals have been made for what situations and needs?
• Did the DBI meet its targets for speed of response and appointments attended?
• To what extent were referrals to DBI considered appropriate?
• Do professionals involved feel empowered to provide a compassionate and constructive response to young people seeking support?
• Are the referral pathways from schools and CAMHS operating as planned? Are pathways clear to all involved and do they result in consistent and efficient transfers and practice?
• What benefits and/or unintended consequences does the intervention produce for those delivering the service?
• What is the experience of staff and organisations providing the service for staff in schools, CAMHS and Level 2 providers?
• What benefits and/or unintended consequences does the intervention produce for existing services (e.g., police, ambulance service, primary care, accident, and emergency, CAMHS and education).
• What benefits and/or unintended consequences does the intervention produce on existing programmes of support in place for this age group?
• What is the experience of using the service for the young people referred?
• What benefits and/or unintended consequences does the intervention provide for the young people who are referred? How is this experienced over the short/medium/long term?
• How do these vary in relation to specific characteristics of the service provided or the skills, experience and role of staff delivering the service?
• Which professional groups / skill sets are most suitable to deliver the intervention within this age group and does this differ from provision for adults?
• Can other referral pathways be used with this age group, similarly to those in use with the adult DBI programme (Police Scotland; NHS Emergency Departments, Primary Care, Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS 24) and what learning can be taken for the 14- to 15-year-old age group from existing use of these pathways in the 16- and 17-year-olds?
• How could children and young people best be involved in the development of DBI for this age group?

How to access background or source data

The data collected for this cannot be made available by Scottish Government for further analysis as Scottish Government is not the data controller.