ORCID

Abstract

Lecture Objectives.Attendees will be able to:1. Define and discuss safety netting in the context of acutely ill children at home2. Evaluate the role of safety netting in facilitating timely access to healthcare and preventing deterioration.3. Critically evaluate the importance of designing interventions for families with families4. Discuss the processes involved in co-design with families caring for young childrenContent: 1. Define and discuss safety netting in the context of acutely ill children at homeThe introduction to the expert lecture will set the scene with the context within which families are caring for acutely ill children at home, and the services available to them. The evidence concerning the challenges faced by parents in determining the severity of their child’s illness and whether or not to seek help will be explored, drawing on research from the past 10 years (Neill 2010, Neill et al 2013, 2021, Neill & Coyne 2018). The need for safety netting is clear from the evidence from both families and health professionals. The safety netting concept will be defined and its development and use explored. 2. Evaluate the role of safety netting in facilitating timely access to healthcare and preventing deterioration.Evidence demonstrating the impact of effective safety netting will be explored here, including systematic reviews (Neill et al 2015, Carey et al in preparation) and primary research (Neill et al 2021) conducted by the expert lecturer. This evidence shows how the lack of safety netting leads to deterioration and sometimes the death of a child whilst effective safety netting can facilitate timely access to healthcare and prevent such deterioration. The inherent challenge of enabling families concerns to be heard within hierarchical structures and busy clinical environments will also be explored along with the need to communicate safety netting advice sensitively and the research concerning the impact of experiences of felt or enacted criticism (Neill et al 2013, Neill & Coyne 2018). 3. Critically evaluate the importance of designing interventions for families with familiesInterventions for families are rarely developed with them or formally evaluated (Neill et al 2015, Carey et al in preparation). Consequently, there is minimal evidence of the impact of co-developed interventions, although where this exists it demonstrates greater positive impact that professionally derived and implemented interventions. Involving patients and the public in research is now embedded in the requirements of funding bodies in the UK (NIHR 2024), illustrating the increasing recognition of the importance of working with those who are current and future users of the services concerned. 4. Discuss the processes involved in co-design with families caring for young childrenThe Acutely Sick Kid Safety Netting Interventions for Families (ASK SNIFF) collaboration research programme (https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/maternal-and-family-health-research-group/asksniff), led by the expert lecturer, identified parents’ need for accurate and accessible information to help them know when to seek help for a sick child in 2010. The resulting programme of research aimed to co-develop an evidence-based safety netting intervention (mobile app) for parents with an acutely ill child under the age of five years in the UK (Neill et al 2024). A collaborative six step process was used with 147 parent and 324 health professional participants over a period of six years including: scoping existing interventions, systematic review, qualitative research, video capture, content identification and development, consensus methodology, parent and expert clinical review. In the presentation, each of the steps involved will be mapped to the MRC Complex Interventions Framework (2000,2008, 2019). This collaborative approach has supported every stage of the work, ensuring that the end result reflects the experiences, perspectives and expressed needs of parents and the clinicians they consult.

Publication Date

2025-06-20

Event

17th International Family Nursing Conference

Deposit Date

2025-08-13

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