NICE is developing public health  guidance on how the social and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable children aged under 5 years can be effectively supported through home visiting, childcare and early education

All registered stakeholders for the above public health intervention guidance are invited to comment on the provisional recommendations during an 8 week consultation with stakeholders.

Organisations not registered as stakeholders are not able to comment. Please note that there is time for you to register as a stakeholder. For further information about how your organisation can become a stakeholder, please see the stakeholder registration page.

Please note - the provisional recommendations presented here do not constitute NICE formal guidance on this topic. The recommendations are provisional and may change after consultation.

This consultation will take place between 20 April 2012 and 18 June 2012.

The draft guidance sets out the provisional recommendations that have been developed.

Please note: comments forms with attachments such as research articles, letters or leaflets will not be accepted. If comments forms do have attachments they will be returned without being read. If the stakeholder resubmits the form without attachments, it must be by the consultation deadline.

Consultation documents

• Social and emotional wellbeing - early years: draft guidance
• Social and emotional wellbeing - early years: stakeholder comments form

Points to consider in the consultation

• Points or areas that are not covered, but which appear to fall within the scope of the guidance.
• Potential inconsistencies or any disagreement with the Public Health Intervention Advisory Committee’s interpretation of the evidence and its applicability.
• The practical value of the provisional recommendations.
• Issues of presentation and style, including how the provisional recommendations have been grouped and ordered.
• Whether the right organisations and individuals have been identified under ‘Who should take action’ for each recommendation.
• Do you think this guidance could be improved to better promote equality of opportunity relating to age, disability, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion and belief, sexual orientation or socio-economic status? If so,  please include details of:
  
  - Which particular parts of the guidance you think affect equality of opportunity.
  
  - Why and how you think equality of opportunity is affected.
• In addition are there are reasons why any of the recommendations in the guidance may result an increase in inequality of opportunity relating to age, disability, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion and belief, sexual orientation or socio-economic status?

How to submit your comments

Please provide all responses to the draft guidance using the stakeholder comments form (ensuring all relevant fields are completed, including your organisation's name) and forward your completed form by 5pm on Monday 18 June 2012 to childrenwellbeingpreschool@nice.org.uk.

The Institute is unable to accept

• More than one response per stakeholder organisation
• Comments received after the consultation deadline
• Comments that are not submitted on a stakeholder comments form
• Confidential information or other material that you would not wish to be made public
• Comments forms with attachments such as research articles, letters or leaflets. If comments forms do have attachments they will be returned without being read. If the stakeholder resubmits the form without attachments, it must be by the consultation deadline.

What will happen to your comments?

• All comments (with the exception of personal, individual comments and late comments) will be sent to the project team at the end of the consultation
• Comments from registered stakeholders will be formally responded to by the project team and posted on the NICE website after the final guidance is published.
• No action will be taken upon receipt of personal, individual comments and late comments.

Please note: The Institute reserves the right to summarise and edit comments received during consultations, or not to publish them at all, where in the reasonable opinion of the Institute, the comments are voluminous, publication would be unlawful or publication would be otherwise inappropriate.

Supporting evidence

The following evidence was used by the Public Health Intervention Advisory Committee in developing the provisional recommendations. Please see appendix C (‘The Evidence’) of the draft guidance for further details.

• Review 1: Promoting the social and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable pre-school children (0-5 yrs) - systematic review level evidence
• Review 2: Promoting the social and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable pre-school children (0-5 yrs) - UK evidence review
• Review 3: Summary review of the factors relating to the risk of children experiencing social and emotional difficulties and cognitive difficulties
• Economic appraisal part 1: Econometric analysis - economic outcomes of early years programmes and interventions designed to promote cognitive, social and emotional development among vulnerable children and families
• Economic appraisal part 2: Economic modelling - economic outcomes of early years programmes and interventions designed to promote cognitive, social and emotional development among vulnerable children and families

The reviews and economic appraisal were conducted by the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield.

In addition a number of expert papers were submitted to the committee

• Overview paper: a short summary of the logic framework and approach to the topic
• Expert report 1: Primary study evidence on effectiveness of interventions (home, early education, child care) in promoting social and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable children under 5.
  Carried out by Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick and Institute for the Study of Children, University of London.
• Expert report 2: Programmes to promote the social and emotional well-being of vulnerable children aged 0-5 years - summary of information from application of the Evidence2Success standards of evidence.
  Carried out by The Social Research Unit, Dartington.
• Expert report 3: The costs and benefits of early interventions for vulnerable children and families to promote social and emotional wellbeing - economics briefing.
  Carried out by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) London School of Economics and Political Science.
• Expert report 4: The evidence base for the Family Nurse Partnership