Exploring the evidence base for integrated children's services

2. Methodology

A literature search was carried out using key terms: integrating services, barriers, good practice, measuring success, culture change, collaborative working and partnership working. The interchangeable use of terms within this field makes it difficult to identify relevant literature. However a wealth of material is available and a wide range of sources were identified. The abstracts were scanned to identify papers that included evaluations of initiatives or projects that attempted to integrate services, other literature reviews on collaborative working, integrated working and joint working. The Scottish Executive Library database was also searched for sources on collaborative working, partnership working, multi-disciplinary working and full-service schools.

Given the short timescale, other contacts were approached for key sources of reference including academics, policy makers and analytical colleagues in SEED, HMIe and Children in Scotland.

The limitations of the methodology are recognised and the review is intended only to capture some of the key findings from the sources that were identified through these methods.