Where is the research taking place?

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

What is the research question?

Does completion of a standardised diagnostic assessment tool (the Development and Well-Being Assessment - DAWBA), at the point of CAMHS referral receipt, help with the assessment process? 

Who is taking part in the research?

Children and young people aged 5-17 years with emotional difficulties who are referred to CAMHS, as well as their parents/carers.

How will participants be identified?

Dedicated research staff will work on the STADIA trial, within and alongside CAMHS teams at each site. These staff will be responsible for identifying potential participants from referrals to CAMHS and contacting families to invite them to consider taking part in the research.

How will the research be conducted?

Participants who agree to take part will be allocated, at random, to one of two groups:

1. The CAMHS referral will be looked at according to usual practice.
2. The CAMHS referral will be looked at according to usual practice, plus completion of the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA). This involves information being collected from the parent (and the young person, if aged 11 +) soon after the referral is received but before any decision has been made about accepting the referral. A report based on this information will be shared with the CAMHS team and the family.

We will assess how effective and cost-effective this approach is by seeing whether it makes any difference to whether or not a diagnosis is made and whether this better helps children and their families. We will follow the children up for 12 months to assess the impact on their emotional difficulties, day-to-day functioning and quality of life.

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