Children and young people’s wellbeing practitioners: A qualitative study of experiences of a low-intensity child and adolescent mental health workforce

Abstract

Recent national policy and strategic workforce commissioning has created quality-monitored low intensity working in children and young people’s mental health (CYP-MH), that follows a stepped care model seen in adult services. This study explored the experiences of members of this new workforce to better understand factors that might support the effectiveness and sustainability of the role from a practitioner perspective.Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse (N=12) semi-structured interview transcripts from CYP Wellbeing Practitioners (CWPs) in London and the Southeast.Five main themes emerged from analysis, suggesting practitioners value their role and its place within the workforce, but have concerns about the low intensity remit meeting high intensity demands, their professional identity and career progression within the speciality.Low-intensity services provide a welcome addition to CYP-MH services with encouraging outcomes so far. Themes that emerged from practitioner experience highlighted clearly defined service remits, careful integration into existing service provision, and professional recognition with career progression as factors that might support the sustainability of the low intensity CYP-MH workforce.