Questions from the CORC inbox
Often, questions we receive into the CORC inbox can be a common query for many, this quarterly feature aims to share our response providing wider knowledge. We also share these each month in the CORC newsletter.
If you have had similar challenges to any of the questions posed and have found a way to overcome them, please do get in touch and let us know.
We welcome any further questions or views around each topic we share. If you have a question, please also get in touch at corc@annafreud.org.
January 2024
Question from a smaller voluntary sector provider:"We are using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS) to measure the impact of our intervention, but young people are skipping some questions. As the measure is only 7 items long, this impacts on the amount of data we are collecting to evaluate our service. How can we increase completion rates?"
Young people tell us that they are more likely to engage with outcome measures if they are explained fully and actively used as part of their support. Consider the process of how SWEMWBS is introduced to young people and whether clear information about the purpose and benefits of outcome measures is shared. Young people want to know why and how the measure will be used, and how they will receive feedback, and this should be explained before asking them to complete the outcome measure. Prepare to introduce the questionnaire in advance - our Six steps to good practice free online training has more information about what could be included in this.
Young Champions at Anna Freud tell practitioners that their relationship affects how they respond to outcome measures. Build trust with a young person before asking them to complete a measure for more meaningful responses and use the measures actively as part of their support.
Are there common questions that are being skipped? If so, these are questions that young people are struggling with, either to understand the questions or how to answer them. These questions therefore should be given attention to when introducing the measure. We also recommend that practitioners offer to support each young people to go through all or some of the questions together.
February 2024
Question from a voluntary sector provider:
“We use the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) along with other measures in our service, and we often have clients where English isn’t their first language, are there different language versions available?”
Our outcome measures pages provide information on individual measures, including whether validated translations are available. Links are provided or in some cases you may need to contact the developer, contact details of which are listed.
For the EDE-Q questionnaire, yes, many languages are available, and we point to who to contact to obtain them.
Check that the translated outcome measure you intend to use is validated i.e. that it has been studied to ensure that it measures what it is intended to measure. This usually includes a process of translation, back translation, and trialling. If your specific language requirement isn’t available and you consider getting it translated, we recommend that you consider:
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Adapting the measure to aid understanding, for example by using images or alternative wording, may affect the reliability of the measure (i.e. how consistent and accurate it is as a measurement tool).
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Translating mental health and wellbeing terminology accurately can require significant consultation, as within many languages there are no equivalent mental health and wellbeing terms.
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There are additional cultural factors beyond language that should be considered using outcome measures with some children and young people, and pages 9-10 in our cultures guidance here may also be of benefit.
March 2024
Question from various service providers
"We routinely use the RCADS scale with the young people we work with. Some of the young people we work with are non-binary and some are trans. How should we use the normed data for the scale with these young people?
The 'News' section of the developer website suggests that research is underway to support the creation of gender diverse norms, and there is a callout for teams able to share datasets and to collaborate in collecting data.
If using gender assigned at birth to use normed data, restricting gender terminology from the graphs shared with young people is recommended to avoid causing distress.
Alternatively, you could use raw data (e.g. just pre and post scores) and not enter gender. This would mean that the norms or thresholds cannot be calculated so it is not possible to have a above or below indicator. But the raw (pre and post for example) scores can be generated to understand if things are improving on any of the subscales over time – which is typical for many measures.