Children, Young People and Families research theme

Children, Young People and Families research has the aim of improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people, particularly those who are most vulnerable. The theme encompasses a broad range of studies involving children and their families, across home, community and hospital settings.

Our research is multidisciplinary; involving physicians, nurses, health visitors, other health practitioners, staff in local authorities (e.g. children’s centres) and Third Sector organisations. This broad multidisciplinary perspective enhances the child health theme and its relevance for undertaking research in the real world.

Research focus

Children’s critical care (Tume, Valla)

This aspect of the theme focuses on a number of aspects of children’s acute and critical care including challenging routine care practices in critical care, evaluating interventions within paediatric critical care (such as sedation and mechanical ventilation weaning); making endotracheal suctioning safer; and improving and evaluating nutrition in critically ill children. The theme also focuses on making hospital systems safer and the use of scoring tools.

Injury prevention (Mytton, Deave, Pant and Bhatta)

We conduct research that seeks to explain the epidemiology of child injury (who gets injured), the risk factors for different types of injuries (how children get injured), interventions to prevent children’s injuries, and how to build capacity and capability for injury prevention. These studies include both those in the UK and those in low and middle-income countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Promoting health and wellbeing throughout a child’s life (Deave, Dowling, Beringer, Goodenough, Mytton, Roulstone)

Our research explores the best way to promote health and wellbeing throughout a child’s life, from antenatal care and early parenthood, breastfeeding, use of health services, through to end of life care for children and young people.

Current funded projects

• The GASTRIC study (16/94/02): A feasibility study of routine gastric residual volume measurement in mechanically ventilated infants and children; funded by NIHR HTA.
  
  
• SANDWICH trial: Sedation and weaning in children; funded by the NIHR HTA.
  
  
• Nepal Injury Research Centre, programme of research; funded by the NIHR Global Health Research Programme.
  
  
• Feasibility of identifying modifiable risk factors for the prevention of traumatic brain injury; funded by the Brain Injury Healthcare Technology Co-operative.
  
  
• Injury Prevention Photosphere - in discussion with health visitors and groups of parents, we have developed a prototype of an interactive injury prevention intervention.

Theme lead

Associate Professor Dr Toity Deave