Launch of Neurodevelopmental Conditions Community of Practice 

The King’s Maudsley Partnership has launched a new Neurodevelopmental Conditions Community of Practice. It brings together clinicians, academics, and community partners to collaborate to improve care and support for neurodiverse children and young people. 

What is a Community of Practice?

A Community of Practice (CoP) is a collaborative space where professionals with shared interests come together to exchange knowledge, explore challenges, and develop innovative solutions. The King’s Maudsley Partnership Neurodevelopmental Conditions CoP is designed to bridge the gap between clinical practice and academic research, ensuring that research is informed by clinical needs and that clinicians have access to the latest advancements in the field.

The CoP serves three key functions: 

1. Clinical Research: It provides a space for clinicians to present challenges they face in practice and work with researchers to explore how innovative academic research can lead to new solutions. It also allows researchers to refine their project ideas in collaboration with clinicians to ensure relevance and impact. 
2. Network Building: It creates a resource of connected professionals who can rapidly respond to funding opportunities and research collaborations. 
3. Learning & Development: The CoP facilitates knowledge sharing, helping clinicians stay updated on cutting-edge research while also offering academics insights into the evolving needs of clinical practice. It also serves as a valuable resource for early-career researchers seeking mentorship and opportunities to engage in clinical research.

Reflections from the first meeting

The CoP is co-chaired by Dr Jesse Campbell a Clinical Psychologist in the South London and Maudsley Trust Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, and Dr Matthew Hollocks Academic and Clinical Psychologist at Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience with expertise in co-occurring mental health conditions in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Reflecting on the first meeting Dr Jesse Campbell said: “As a clinician I was struck both by how the dilemmas of daily clinical practice were sometimes unfamiliar to researchers but also how discussing these dilemmas with researchers and academics quickly opened up new avenues for developing and testing solutions to them. King’s Maudsley Partnership has a remarkable wealth of clinical wisdom and research expertise and I left feeling very optimistic that together these groups can generate real value for the neurodivergent community” 

 Themes That Emerged

During the first meeting of the CoP participants broke into groups to explore key challenges and opportunities. Several themes emerged: 

• Inclusive research
  Many children including those with the highest needs are not being included in research. Research needs to be accessible to all, and the facilities within the Pears Maudsley Centre will enable children who previously had not been able to participate in research to take part.  
• Opportunities for better use of clinical data:
  Clinicians are collecting valuable data but often don’t have time to use it effectively. Stronger links with academic teams could help transform that data into meaningful change. Supporting greater collaboration between academics and clinicians is at the heart of the King’s Maudsley Partnership’s Communities of Practice.