Health related work in family intervention projects

The research reported here has been carried out in the context of a strong policy emphasis on developing work with families with multiple problems in England. It was commissioned by the Department of Health as an evaluation of health related work by intensive family intervention services (formerly Family Intervention Projects, or FIPs), with the over-arching aim of helping intensive family intervention services develop their health-related work, and of informing policy in relation to intervention with families with multiple problems. This study built on (but has been separate from) an ongoing national monitoring of FIPs being carried out by the National Centre for Social Research. In introducing this project report, it is important to note that the research did not comprise a substantive evaluation of family health outcomes. Rather, it was concerned to examine the relationship between processes and outcomes associated with health-related work in FIPs, and to learn from relatively well-developed practice in supporting the health and wellbeing of family members. Specifically, the study examined: i. the work of family intervention services with family mental and physical health needs, in relation to assessment , support planning, and intervention; ii. family members’ own priorities and perceived needs in relation to physical and mental health; iii. multi-disciplinary approaches to work with child and family health needs in family intervention services; iv. the extent to which family intervention services could achieve change in relation to family health, and the barriers and facilitators of that change; and v. the extent to which change in key aspects of family health was maintained over time.