Meeting the needs of children and young people (0-18) with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities: modelling the Allied Health Professional therapy workforce within integrated children’s services.

An estimated 1.7 million children and young people (CYP) in England are identified as having special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The 2024/25 Education Select Committee inquiry, "Solving the SEND Crisis", is examining the barriers to achieving a whole system approach; The Kessler Review (2024) of the demand and supply of therapists for CYP with SEND also identified need for systemic approaches such as the Balanced System®. Aims and Objectives The MOdelling Therapies for Improved Futures (MOTIF) study aims to inform policy, practice, workforce planning and commissioning for therapy services supporting CYP with SEND (0-18) based on a needs-led model. Objectives to: Examine key risk factors that contribute to the needs of CYP with SEND for therapy services. Review the policy and strategic guidance relevant to the funding, demand and supply of the relevant therapy workforce Gather views regarding current therapy practices and the acceptability of a systems-based delivery model from (i) therapy workforce (ii) professional associations and (iii) CYP and Families Identify the enablers and challenges for commissioning of therapies for CYP with SEND in two selected regions: Greater Essex and Midlands Generate therapies workforce models based on population need building on existing data and methods from a systems model (the Balanced System®) enhanced and further developed through this research programme. Methods MOTIF will be delivered in three work packages (WPs): WP-1: Evidence synthesis in the form of two scoping reviews i) risk factors determining population need for support in CYP with SEND, and ii) analysing policy documents to understand contextual factors impacting on workforce modelling and delivery of therapies (Objectives 1-2) WP-2: Multi-Stakeholder Engagement to gather qualitative and quantitative data through focus groups, surveys with professionals, and creative methods participatory workshops with CYP, parents/carers to identify perspectives on what is working well within current provision models and acceptability of a systems-based model (Objectives 3-4) WP3: Systems-thinking approach to workforce modelling (Objective 5) Analysis Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data will undergo thematic analysis (focus groups) and content analysis (workshops). Workforce modelling will be iterative throughout the course of the programme, starting with refinement and development of existing modelling of population need for speech, language and communication support to include the broader group of CYP, enabling calibration of the applied workforce model to a range of populations within the two target regions and acceptability testing with stakeholders. Anticipated outputs: A population needs profile for therapy support for England A workforce model for therapy provision tested in two regions and ready for future testing and validation across England. Dissemination through peer-reviewed publications, lay summaries, public facing video, podcasts / media developed with public contributors, accessible materials PPI/EDI: Our public co-applicant (a young person with SEND and experience of multiple therapies) and 5 parents of CYP with SEND have supported the development of this application. PPI groups will include parents/carers and CYP with SEND and will work closely with the research team to inform the design and delivery of all work packages.