Improving partnerships to improve outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities: qualitative findings from a mixed methods systematic review

Background: Effective collaboration between different services is recommended by government policy for children and young people (CYP) with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) across many countries. In the UK, despite significant shifts in policy towards partnership working, there remains a scarcity of scientific evidence on how this should be achieved. This mixed methods systematic review examined interventions leading to improved service outcomes for multiagency working for CYP with SEND.

Method: Eleven databases generated a total of 7,473 results. Data from 137 selected studies were analysed. However, only qualitative research findings from thematic synthesis regarding key ingredients of effective partnership are reported.

Results: From these, five key ingredients for effective partnership working in SEND services were identified: (1) participation, and legitimacy to participate in a partnership; (2) personalisation and consultation with children, young people, and their families in designing and delivering services; (3) respectful communication, and feeling that involvement is valued; (4) preparation to be an effective member of a partnership; and (5) working across professional and organisational boundaries.

Conclusion and implications: To facilitate practical application of the findings, three exemplar cases of effective partnership are explored. A framework to support partnership design, collaboration, and the development of evidence-based recommendations, is presented.
Systematic review registration: The study protocol for this study was registered in PROSPERO CRD42022352194.