Exciting study opportunity for young families

Families with babies aged under eight weeks are being offered an exciting opportunity to take part in a study looking at how to give their children the best possible start in life.

Researchers at the University of York are being supported by health professionals at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust and the Early Health Team from Blackburn with Darwen Council in looking for parents from Blackburn and Darwen to participate in the E-SEE Family Wellbeing Study.

Anyone with a baby less than two months old is eligible to take part in the 18-month study into child development and wellbeing and also receive high street shopping vouchers of up to £70 as a thank you for participating. The results of the survey could potentially help improve family and children’s services for other families across the country.

Tracey Bywater, Principal Investigator at the University of York, said:

The E-SEE study will find out if a new form of support for parents called the Incredible Years programme benefits the wellbeing of parents and their babies. We are interested in finding out whether this new programme is more helpful than services that are already available to families in your area.

To find out if the programme does make a difference, we will look at the progress of families who receive Incredible Years and compare that to the progress of families who receive the usual care available to them in their local area. We hope that findings from the E-SEE study will be used to make sure that the right kind of help is available to families to support parents and to give children the best start in life.

Fiona Tyldesley, Team Leader from the Children and Young People’s Wellbeing Network at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, said:

It is a pleasure for us at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust to be supporting this study. The results would contribute towards making some positive improvement in delivering family and children’s services in the country to ensure children everywhere have the best start in life.

Councillor Maureen Bateson, Executive Member for Children’s Services for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:

In Blackburn with Darwen we are keen to support any research that can help us in making a positive impact on the lives of our children and their families as well as those across the country. The opportunity to work with the range of organisations involved in this research and our colleagues in Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust is an exciting one and builds on strong local working arrangements.

The E-SEE (Enhancing Social and Emotional health and wellbeing in the Early Years) study is being funded by the NHS National Institute for Health Research and is designed to find out if a new form of support for parents called the Incredible Years programme benefits parents and babies. The project is interested in finding out whether this new programme is more helpful than services that are already available to families.

If you would like to know more about the trial and how you can take part contact Nicole Gridley on 01904 328152 or visit www.e-see-trial.org.