What is an I Matter Action Research Project?

There is a significant crisis in the provision of mental health services for children and families.   The needs are growing and services are being cut.   So maybe there is a need to think laterally?

I think the research evidence is clear:   Strong attachment relationships at home and at school make a profound difference to the way in which a chlld's brain functions and develops and to their ability to understand and work with others to overcome their challenges.   

Therefore if we want to impact on mental health and educational outcomes we need to actively promote understanding of the importance of relationships and relationship skills in building resilience across the life span.  We need to engage with and prioritise the challenge of helping adults and children build healthier relationships.   Improved relationships are important as an early intervention goal, and improved relationships with SELF and with other, are vital to healthy recovery from a wide variety of physical and mental health issues.  

So how do we ensure that these well-evidenced ideas get to parents and professionals who need the knowledge?  How do we get people talking about the issues that really matter if we are to see healthy change even at times of great social pressures?  

An I Matter Action Research Project is an opportunity to explore this question in your setting.   We may know what we want to achieve but actually getting there is not always that easy.   In fact getting it can sometimes be very tricky indeed.   But with trial and error there could be a way.  In the I Matter Project we have done a lot of work on the presentation of key content and on delivery options:  Key ideas are provided in online teaching and visual resources and the assessment tools promote discussions about outcomes. However, implementation is only implementation when it really happens.  So we are interested in working with others to explore what is needed to make implementation a success.  

Most importantly, there is not just one solution to promoting better relationships between children and adults and between school and parents.   Some schools and services are already active in reaching out to parents, some do very little as yet.  Some staff teams know a lot already, and some much less.  Some families will need very little support for very little time - some need a lot more for a lot longer.  Some families need group support and some families progress with 1:1 only.  

The big advantage of being involved in an Action Research Project is that YOU start to observe and question these variations yourself and you as a team can invent your own local solutions.   

You also start to build capacity so that you have people on your team and in your community who can take the project forward.   if you would like to find out more why not Click Here