Working with Parents As Partners in The

Working with Parents as Partners in the

Promotion of Well-being in Children and Young People

with Vision Impairment.

Host Organisation / Facilitator Pack

Contents:

Background Paper:Working with Parents as Partners in the Promotion ofWell-being in Children and Young People with Vision Impairment.

Host Organisations:Facilitator’s Minimum Competencies, Qualifications and Attributes.

Participants’ Reply Slip

Course Evaluation FormsFacilitators and Parents Evaluation Feedback Forms

Background Paper

Parents as Partners in the Promotion of Well-being

in Children and Young People with Vision Impairment.

Background.

Guide Dogs’ Well-being Project builds upon previous Guide Dogs’ research, (2008), into the independence and functionality of blind and partially sighted young people. The survey found that blind and partially sighted children and young people did not perform as well as other young people in terms of confidence, independence, self-esteem, social skills, mobility and in the development of social networks. The study also highlighted the inadequacy of services to children and their families and the lack of support and information for parents of blind and partially sighted children and young people when diagnosed with irreversible sight loss.

Phase I – Think Right, Feel Good Programme.

Phase I of this project, a proof of concept pilot, was completed in 2010. This was a collaborative initiative with input being received from Guide Dogs, The Berkshire Sensory Impairment Partnership (BSIP), the Royal London Society for the Blind (RLSB), the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) and a chartered educational psychologist.

This initiative actively addressed the provision of ‘well-being support’ to children and young people with vision impairment. Three main well-being domains were addressed. These comprised resilience, self esteem and emotional well-being. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the outcome of the proof of concept pilot were positive with children manifesting improved levels of self-esteem and well-being. This improvement was statistically significant. Other factors such as age, duration of the intervention and adherence to the research design were found to be key issues.

The impact which Phase I of this project has had in the short term has been considerable. Within the groups of young children, social networks have built up and greater social inclusion has resulted. Parents have also formed their own social networks and have been active in information sharing.

Phase I culminated in a bespoke well-being course for children and young people with a vision impairmententitled ‘Think Right, Feel Good’. Hard copies can be obtained from downloaded from Guide Dogs’website: or NatSIP’s website

Sixteen local authority education providers in England have now signed up to its use and further evaluation. This activity will commence in the autumn of this year.

Phase II: Parents as Partners in Promoting Well-being

Phase II commenced in January 2011. The aims of this phase are:

to enhance parents’ understanding of the importance of well-being
to provide information for parents
to provide a forum for discussion as to how parents can contribute to the promotion of their child’s well-being.

It is anticipated that parents / carers will then be better able, more confident and suitably equipped to support their children as they progress through early life.

The design, development, trialling and evaluation ofthe ‘well-being course’ for parents of blind and partially sighted childrenhas been completed. The course content was developed by QTVIs, psychologists, professionals in the field and parents of blind and partially sighted children and the programme and contents have been amended following peer review and evaluations of the trials. The delivery of a bespoke well-being course for parents – i.e. the main component of phase II - will commence in the autumn of 2011.

Prior to roll-out, local authorities and third sector agencies will be informed of this initiative and asked if they wish to participate in the 2011 pilot. These organisations will be regarded as ‘host organisations’.

The specific objectives of Phase II of the project are:

Objectives:

to provide a bespoke well-being programme for parents.
to disseminate peer-reviewed wellbeing materials for use by experienced professionals operating in the vision impairment field and employed by the third sector and or voluntary agencies / local authorities
to create partnerships / collaborations with voluntary agencies, local authorities and the third sector in the development of parent ‘well-being’ groups.
to identify parent group facilitators employed by local authorities, third sector and voluntary agencies to contribute to the work of parent ‘well-being’ groups.
to develop a network of parents of children and young people with vision impairment around the UK who would support other parents of blind and partially sighted children and young people in the day to day promotion of well-being.

Course Details

Title: Parents as Partners in Promoting Well-being.

It is suggested that parents of newly diagnosed blind and partially sighted children should be offered the information and support they require before considering participation in the Parents as Partners in Promoting Well-being course – e.g. sign posting to where information regarding the diagnosis can be obtained, support groups, access to services etc. It is expected that each ‘host organisation’ will provide general information specific to their organisation and locality.

The course will be delivered either as a 3 session programme, each session of approximately 2 hours duration, or a one day event.

The programme will cover:

Session 1: What is well-being? Why is it so important?

Session 2: How can we promote well-being? Part 1

Session 3: How can we promote well-being? Part 2

Each session will be interactive with parents who have had experience in raising a blind or partially sighted child contributing to the discussions with other parents.

It is intended that professionals from VI Support Services will facilitate these sessions supported, where possible, by parent facilitators and also professionals, with relevant qualifications and experience, from other agencies.

It is hoped that ~300 parents will undertake the pilot in 2011 and that 30 organisations around the UK will agree to host and facilitate the programme to be delivered in October/November, 2011.

Post Course Evaluation
A post course evaluation will be undertaken. Once feedback has been analysed,reported and any consequent amendments made to the course, organisations and agencies throughout the UK will be invited to download the product for their own use.

It is anticipated that the materials will be cost neutral.

Intellectual Property Rights will belong to Guide Dogs.

Deliverable

A bespoke parents’ ‘well-being programme’ for use by the third sector and all other appropriate agencies and organisations.

The ‘well-being information’ will be available through organisational websites (Guide Dogs, RNIB, NatSIP, RLSB etc). A limited number of hard copies will also be made available.

Currency of Information

It will be necessary for the well-being programme to be reviewed (by an organisation or working group comprising representatives from the field) on a regular basis to ensure currency, continued appropriateness, impact and future development. Who will be the gatekeeper, where the course will ‘sit’ and what the mechanism for change will be have yet to be determined.

Alison Hood

Head of Research, Guide Dogs

1-08-2011.

Disclaimer

The course materials (©) have been developed by The Guide Dogs for the Blind AssociationRegistered Office: Hillfields, Burghfield Common, Reading, Berkshire RG7 3YG. A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (291646) and a charity registered in England and Wales (209617) and Scotland (SC038979) Tel: 0118 983 5555 Email: Website: . The Guide Dogs for the Blind Associationaccept no responsibility or liability for its use or application.

Parents as Partners in the

Promotion of Well-being in Children and Young People

with Vision Impairment.

Minimum Competencies and Expectations of Facilitators

(employed or commissioned by the host organisation or service)

‘When thinking about how to help parents, or other people, it is easy to assume implicitly that helping is simply about doing something for them, providing them with the correct solution, the right answer or appropriate advice, in order to remove the problem.’

This idea permeates most of our services in health, education and social care and underpins what has been called the Expert Model (Cunningham and Davis, 1985). Looking at helping in this way tends to lead to service provision being seen as simply a question of training people to know all there is to know about a specific area and then to regulate access to them by some kind of referral system.

‘We will be more able to meet the needs of all members of the family involved in the problem if we understand how people function as individuals and how they relate to each other, since communication is intimately related to the outcomes of interventions.’

Guide Dogs’ Parents as Partners Programme

The purpose of the Parents as Partners in Promoting Well-being course is to support parents of children and young people with vision impairment in the promotion of well-being in their children. The programme is thus aimed at enhancing parents’ understanding of the importance of well-being, providing information for them and a forum for discussion as to how they can contribute to the promotion of their child’s well-being. Parents / carers will then be better able, more confident and suitably equipped to support their children as they progress through early life.

The course represents the second phase of a Guide Dogs’ project, which was established in response to ‘Research into the Independence and Functionality of Blind and Partially Sighted Young People’ (GDBA, April 2008: This survey highlighted that blind and partially sighted children and young people typically do not perform as well as their peers in terms of confidence, independence, initiative, self-esteem, social skills, mobility and social networks. The initial phase of the project focused on the development of a bespoke well-being programme for young people with vision impairment, entitled ‘Think Right Feel Good’.

Like Think Right Feel Good, the course for parents (Parents as Partners in Promoting Wellbeing) has been designed for delivery by VI Services around the country. The course approach is intended to empower parents through the sharing of knowledge and experience and the encouragement of mutual support. The primary role of the course leaders is that of facilitation rather than instruction and provision of advice.

It is expected that organisational ‘facilitators’ will adhere to the Guiding Principles embodied in the delivery of professional activities attached to vision impairment support and services. The Guiding Principles of any service delivery are: ‘To do no harm’and‘To provide benefit’.

Minimum Competencies and Expectations of Facilitators

It is acknowledged that the majority of VI agencies have in their employ very well qualified staff who offer a range of services. However, this bespoke programme for parents of children and young people with vision impairment requires delivery by ‘facilitators’ with specific skills and expertise. The following comprises a list of competencies which staff employed by VI agencies or services who wish to ‘Host or Deliver’ this programme will be required possess.

Expectations of, and Outcomes from, Facilitator Activity

To help parents identify, clarify and manage problems which may arise through their child’s vision impairment.
To enable parents to build resilience (including their ability to anticipate problems which may arise).
To enable parents/carers to promote the development and well-being of their children.
To aid in development of planning strategies.
To facilitate families’ development around vision impairment.

Facilitators will thus need to achieve the following:

Establish and build a relationship.
Help the person explore their feelings about their child’s vision impairment.
Help them formulate a clearer understanding of the situation and to develop strategies for well-being.
Establish agreed aims and goals.

Facilitators will also need to be awareof the characteristics of an effective partnership and be able to:

Work closely together with active participation and involvement.
Share power with parents leading.
Demonstrate complementary expertise.
Agree aims and process.
Demonstrate an ability to negotiate.

Show mutual trust and respect.
Be open and honest.
Communicate clearly.

Facilitators will be expected to exhibit skills of:

Attention/active listening.
Prompting and exploration.
Empathic responding.
Summarising

Facilitators must also manifest the following qualities:

Respect.
Empathy.
Genuineness.
Humility.
Quiet enthusiasm.
Personal integrity.
Technical knowledge.

Professional Qualifications

Facilitators must be experienced in the field of vision impairment and ideally hold an appropriate qualification. Professionals such as qualified teachers for vision impairment (QTVI), educational psychologists and social workers for vision impaired peoplemay be particularly interested in facilitating the programme.

Professional Attributes

Facilitators must be able to build relationships with children, young people and their families and be able to:

establish fair, respectful, trusting, supportive and constructive relationships with parents of children and young people with vision impairment.

Disclaimer

Parents as Partners In the Promotion of Well-being in

Children and Young People with Vision Impairment
A Short Course for Parents

This course, which has been developed by Guide Dogs and Collaborative Partners for use by Vision Impairment Services, provides a great opportunity for parents to explore:

What we mean by Well-being

Why Well-being is so important

How Well-being can be promoted

The Course which is run over session(s) will be held at

and will start at and finish at

Reply Slip: Please complete, detach and send to the address below

Name(s)______

I / We* would like to attend the Parents as Partners in Promoting Well-being Course

Contact Address:______

______

Telephone Number: ______Email Address:______

Please specify any access or dietary needs:______

(*) delete as appropriate.

PARENTS AS PARTNERS IN PROMOTING WELL-BEING

FACILITATORS’ EVALUATION FORM

Session / Please tick as
appropriate
Session 1: What is well-being? Why is it so important?
Session 2: How can we promote well-being? Part 1
Session 3: How can we promote well-being? Part 2

For clarification of comments, please use the course materials references as appropriate (e.g. Programme Guidance 1.4; Handout 1.3; Facilitators’ Notes 1.1; Powerpoint Slide 7).

What worked well?

Were any issues or problems identified and, if so, what changes would you suggest for this session?

Do you have any other suggestions for improving this session?

After the completion of the course please add, over the page, any further comments you wish to make about the course as a whole.

SESSION 1: PARENTS’ EVALUATION FORM

1. Please indicate how much you agree with each sentence:

Strongly
Agree / Agree / Not sure / Disagree / Strongly disagree
The session gave me a good understanding of what is meant by well-being.
The session gave me a good understanding of why well-being is so important.

2. Do you have any comments you would like to add about the session (e.g. how it could have been improved)?

Thank you for completing the form. Please place it in the box provided before you leave.

SESSION 2: PARENTS’ EVALUATION FORM

1. Please indicate how much you agree with each sentence:

Strongly
Agree / Agree / Not sure / Disagree / Strongly disagree
The session gave me some
useful ideas on how the sense of
well-being can be encouraged.
The session provided me with some practical ways to promote my child’s resilience.

2. Is there anything you intend to try out as a result of this session?

3. Do you have any comments you would like to add about the session (e.g. how it could have been improved)?

Thank you for completing the form. Please place it in the box provided before you leave.

SESSION 3: PARENTS’ EVALUATION FORM

1. Please indicate how much you agree with each sentence:

Strongly
Agree / Agree / Not sure / Disagree / Strongly disagree
I think my child could benefit from using the ‘Stop and Think!’ approach.
The session gave me increased understanding of self-esteem.
The session provided me with some practical ways of promoting my child’s self-esteem.

2. Is there anything you intend to try out as a result of this session?

3. Do you have any comments you would like to add about the session (e.g. how it could have been improved)?

4. Now that the course has been completed, how would you rate the course overall on the scale below (please circle your rating)?