Institute of Education London

Meeting the health needs of families referred to Family Intervention Projects

Research Summary           
Family Intervention Projects (FIPs) were first established in England in 2006. From April 2009, all local authorities were allocated funding for a FIP and given support from the Department of Health to improve their health contribution. This project was commissioned to focus on FIP's work in relation to family health, and experts provide information that will help FIPs to develop their health-related work. Specifically, the project aims to examine:
• FIP's work with family mental and physical health needs, in relation to assessment, support, planning and intervention;
• multi-disciplinary approaches to work with child and family health needs in FIPs;
• families' own priorities and perceived needs in relation to physical and mental health;
• the extent to which FIPs can achieve change in relation to family health, and the barriers and facilitators of that  change; and
• the extent to which change in key aspects of family health is maintained over time.

Methods
The first phase of work was carried out in the spring of 2010, and involved telephone interviews with FIP specialists, regional leads, and FIPs coordinators in 20 areas. Subsequently, in-depth case studies are being carried out in four local authorities, selected as examples of well-developed practice in relation to work and health. This second phase will include interviews with key professionals involved with FIPs, including FIPs key workers and specialist health workers, as well as interviews with 40 family members (parents and young people from 20 families). Family members will be interviewed soon after they have finished the FIP intervention, and again six to seven months later.