Essex researchers to support SEND overhaul

Researchers at the University of Essex will play a key role in an ambitious project to improve therapy services for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Professor Victoria Joffe and Professor Reinhold Scherer will support the £500,000 research project, which comes hot on the heels of the Government’s announcement to reform SEND provision for children.

Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the study will examine how allied health professionals — including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists — can be better utilised and placed within SEND services to ensure support reaches those who need it most.

The project, called MOdelling Therapies for Improved Futures (MOTIF), will focus on SEND in Essex and Birmingham, but have important implications for SEND provision nationally.

Professor Joffe, Essex’s Dean of Integrated Health and Social Care and a speech and language therapy expert, said: “We are delighted to have received this funding to focus on how best to support children and young people with SEND, their families and practitioners.

“This work is long overdue, taking a population and epidemiological approach to shape service provision and ensure every child and young person receives the support they need across their lifespan.

“This work continues the University of Essex’s focus on targeting inequalities of care and draws on its expertise in allied health professional intervention research and modelling healthcare provision.”

The project team comprises clinical researchers from the University of Reading, Queen Mary University of London and the Better Communication CIC.

Working alongside co-lead Marie Gascoigne, Professor Joffe, as co-primary investigator, will coordinate and oversee the programme, managing the project’s governance, organisation and delivery.

Professor Joffe will support the project steering group and work closely with stakeholders throughout the research, ensuring the findings influence policy, professional practice and wider society.

As part of the work, Professor Joffe will lead the conduction of two major scoping reviews, analysing government reports and existing research to understand population risk factors, epidemiology and prevalence relating to the needs of children and young people, in order to inform the predicted need at population level.

Professor Scherer, of Essex’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, together with Marie Gascoigne, will lead the next stage of development of the Balanced System - an innovative workforce-modelling approach designed to strengthen and modernise service provision across the country.

He will draw on advanced data analysis, artificial intelligence and computer simulations, working with integrated local and national data sources to generate robust workforce predictions. This will help identify how many therapists are needed in different regions, supporting more effective planning and ensuring services are equipped to meet growing demand.

Children, young people and parents will play a central role in shaping the research from start to finish.

Their experiences will help inform recommendations about how therapy is delivered — whether through individual or group sessions, classroom-based support and training for school staff.

The project aims to provide robust evidence to guide national and local planning, helping ensure that therapy services are sustainable, equitable and capable of making a lasting difference in the lives of children and young people with SEND.