Recently, children and young people’s (CYP) mental health researchers from the Children and Adolescents Data Resource (CADRE) network came together to discuss progress in building a national data platform for CYP health, to support new research and clinical pathways.
CADRE aims to integrate data sources from areas including healthcare, education, social care, and genomics, into a single data resource making it easier for researchers to access relevant anonymised information about CYP and enable healthcare practitioners to provide better care.
The event, held at Trinity Hall in Cambridge, was organised by the CADRE network in collaboration with the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) Mission’s CYP Mental Health workstream.
Discussions at the event focused on finding solutions to key challenges such as the difficulties in aligning a diverse range of data providers, navigating significant resource pressures, and competing priorities of the project.
Speakers discussed establishing a national framework for engaging data providers, improving communication channels, and the formation of dedicated working groups to progress key areas.
Dr Ashish Kumar, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at The ADHD Centre and Jim Hughes, Strategic Advisor at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, shared progress in mapping local data providers, plans to engage with these providers to access CYP data and the data architecture supporting these efforts.
Dr Siân Lowri Griffiths, Assistant Professor at the University of Birmingham’s Institute for Mental Health, described completing initial data mapping and beginning outreach to fifteen local data providers. Dr Lowri Griffiths also announced a Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement strategy to ensure representation of children and young people in the project.
Dr Roshelle Ramkisson, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and NICE Fellow at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, announced having mapped out and engaged with several local data providers. Dr Ramkisson also discussed the insights received from hosting a successful event for local stakeholders.
Speaking about the event, CADRE Project Lead and Assistant Professor in Child Psychiatry and Medical Informatics at the University of Cambridge, Dr Anna Moore said:
“It was inspiring to see so many people coming together to tackle the challenge of making health data available for research. This is particularly important to child mental health research – if we can unlock the potential of children’s data for research, we have an exciting opportunity to improve mental health not only for children, but across the life course”.
Professor Jonathan Green, Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Manchester and CADRE Implementation Lead in Manchester said:
“This partnership between CADRE and the MH-TRC Mission represents a tremendous opportunity for us to develop an integrated digital infrastructure that could be transformative for child and young people’s mental health research and clinical outcomes.
“It was great to be in Cambridge and see the strength of the CADRE team, as well as our colleagues in Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Birmingham who are also implementing this important work. We look forward to the emerging fruits from this innovative initiative.”
The next stage of the CADRE project will involve establishing two active national sites and establishing relationships with data providers across Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and Merseyside.
Key working groups will be formed to oversee data governance, information sharing, and ensure meaningful patient and public involvement in the project’s development.
For more information about the CADRE project email Dr Anna Moore on [email protected].
See below images of the event.
