Churchill Fellowship 'Walking with Families'

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This episode draws on peer support specialists working directly with parents and carers living with children with challenging and aggressive behaviour. Focusing on Canada & the USA it considers different models of peer support

including social media, virtual and in person. It then considers the role of peer mentors specifically in the Canadian organisation Interwoven Connections based across the province of Ontario that serves a large

community through virtual means.

Developing the themes in Part 1 this podcast considers how parents and carers are supported by focused organisations. Rather than look at specific models of intervention, of which there are many, it considered how families interacted and accessed the interventions and specifically how they were delivered to the families. 

Again, drawing heavily from Interwoven Connections based in Ontario, Canada the interplay of parent/carer, peer supporter and clinical staff is highlighted.

In this final podcast I reflect on conversations with carers and practitioners that support parents and children in the context of respite arrangements. It is a model of practice rarely seen in the UK and not available from statutory support services. The model of intervention explored from two settings in North America raised questions about

perceptions of family and how intervening to rebuild and reform families can be an affective solution for some.