What factors impact service use among ‘hard to reach’ families, and how can these be used to support early intervention?

The views of 'hard to reach' families is an under-explored area. While some attempt has been made to define who these families are, or what professionals see as being the barriers to engaging them, very little has been done to identify these parents' perspectives on services.

The present study interviewed nine 'hard to reach' families living in an ethnically diverse Local Authority in Southeast England.

A semi-structured interview schedule was used to identify both positive and negative experiences of engaging with services. This data was then analysed using Thematic Analysis to uncover common themes across the families.

The parents were asked initially to identify the services they were engaging with; this was, on average, 6.3 services per family.

Interview data revealed five themes that were influential in the families' decision to engage:

• the experience of the service, both in accessing it and the resources the service has
• the ability to recognise and meet the families' needs
• social support
• a sense of control about the ability to access the service, or about the ability to control their child's behaviour
• feelings of hope for a better future

Implications for practice are discussed, including the need for services to recognise the value of staff, and time for families, as their most important resource.

The Lead Professional role is also discussed as a potential way of ensuring that needs are recognised and met by services working with hard to reach families.