Accessibility statement

Evaluation of an intervention to improve infant mental health: Ready to Relate

A team led by Dr Sarah Blower has been funded by Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust to evaluate the Ready to Relate intervention.

The Ready to Relate cards are a visual, interactive tool to help practitioners (in a range of settings) assess, discuss and share healthcare information with families and to make NICE recommended interventions accessible. The cards aim to improve and enhance the parent‐infant relationship and promote infant attachment and optimal infant development. BDCT have also developed a practitioner training that sits alongside the cards. More information can be found on the Ready to Relate webpage.

The study has been designed to address the following aims:

  • To co-produce a theory of change and logical model for R2R; 
  • Understand patterns of implementation and delivery in Bradford; 
  • Explore impact, acceptability and feasibility from the perspectives of both practitioners and parents; 
  • Produce a plan for a larger scale effectiveness evaluation

Methods include stakeholder mapping, qualitative interviews with parents and practitioners, focus groups and documentary analysis.

The study extends on previous internal research conducted by BDCT with a view to producing findings that can be published in peer-reviewed journals and contribute to the academic literature on interventions to improve parent-child relationships and infant mental health. It will also contribute to the ongoing development of Ready to Relate and the building blocks that are needed for a more robust and larger scale future evaluation.

The study is one of a portfolio of projects nested within the Best Start topic of the Yorkshire Humber Applied Research Collaboration's Early Life and Prevention Theme.

For more infomraation about the study please contact Dr Sarah Blower at sarah.blower@york.ac.uk.

Funding

Funder(s): Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust
Start Date: April 2022
End Date: April 2024

 

Members

Internal Staff

External Partners

  • Dr Zoe Darwin, Reader at the University of Huddersfield (Co-investigator)

Public Health and Society Research in the Department of Health Sciences