Children, young people and families that The Children’s Trust support will receive services that are built on best evidence, and excellence to ensure their lives are enriched and that they achieve the best possible outcomes. Through growth in the research programme, and partnership with families, we aim to build the research base for children with brain injury and neurodisability.
This ambitious 5-year research plan has been developed in consultation with families and external partners and sets out the building blocks for promoting clinical excellence locally, nationally and internationally.
The Research Strategy is closely aligned to the three aims of The Children’s Trust Hope and Ambition Strategy.
Research strategy 2020-2025
The Children's Trust Hope and Ambition Strategy
Research contribution to Aim 1: Build on our specialist knowledge to grow our services in Tadworth and help more children and young people
What do we want to do?
The research team will support innovative approaches to the service delivery for children, young people and their families. The impact of the research team in Aim 1 will be to present evidence, support new ideas, introduce innovation, and collaborate on analysis and evaluation. The research team will undertake and disseminate research that informs service provision. The team will involve young people and their families in the development and delivery of our research programme and collaborate with other organisations to develop and share best practice.
Research contribution to Aim 2: Support every child in the UK with an ABI
What do we want to do?
The research team will ensure that the information, support and advice children and families affected by ABI receive, reflect the published evidence. They will utilise their academic and clinical collaborations and partnerships to guide the planning of integrated care pathways that will improve outcomes for every child in the UK with an ABI.
The research team have subject expertise that they will share through a variety of media channels. They will use experience of involvement and engagement with families to ensure the information they provide is appropriate at the time of need.
Research contribution to Aim 3: Improve outcomes for children and young people through integration of our specialist skills and approaches
What do we want to do?
The research team will ensure that the highly specialist skills and expertise of the education, healthcare and therapy teams’ practice align with best available evidence. The research team are committed to informing the evidence-base through evaluation and outcome measurement. As the teams and approaches become more integrated, the research team will ensure that they provide innovative learning opportunities and experiences in order to embed best practice into service delivery. They commit to a culture of critical thinking and integrated reflective practice across education, healthcare and therapy.
Research contribution to Building Excellence
Going forward, the research team will have a role in building excellence across the organisation. The wide range of skills and expertise that the team bring in relation to critical thinking, analysis, and the reporting of data will help to support the organisation to provide evidence of its impact. The team’s knowledge of behaviour change frameworks will support transformation and sustainability plans.
The research team will ensure that they remain visible and accessible to the wider organisation in order to advance the excellence agenda. We will facilitate learning and development, and share practical skills of project management, research methods, quality processes such as evaluation and audit. The team will mentor staff across the organisation and encourage them to explore early-stage research ideas, in order to help develop critical thinking and bring project ideas to fruition.
The team will continue to celebrate staff achievements and the research profile through peer review publications, presentations and social media platforms. Our aim is to showcase excellence at The Children’s Trust, making us employer of choice in this specialist field of children and young people with neurodisability.
The Children’s Trust Research Governance Committee Progress Report 2021
