Key working for families with young disabled children

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Social Work
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Families with disabled children face complex service navigation challenges.
• Coordination of care across multiple professionals and agencies is often fragmented.
• The key worker role aims to simplify access to high-quality, coordinated services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the multifaceted role of key workers for families with disabled children.
• To understand the experiences of both "being a key worker" and "having a key worker".
• To evaluate the impact of key working within the Blackpool Early Support Pilot Programme.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study employing appreciative and narrative approaches.
• Mixed methods including interviews, surveys, and a nominal group workshop.
• Data collected from 43 participants: parents, key workers, and other stakeholders.

Main Results:

• Key working enhanced communication and information sharing between professionals and agencies.
• It facilitated a more family-centred approach to service delivery.
• Key workers fostered new relationships, improving service integration and family empowerment.
• Parents and service providers reported significant benefits from the key working model.

Conclusions:

• Key working positively transformed family experiences and professional perspectives.
• It effectively embedded new, collaborative ways of working into practice.
• Appreciative inquiry proved valuable for evaluating the key worker role and its impact.