Glasgow Health & Social Care Partnership

Family needs first at new wellbeing hub in Glasgow

What we’ve done and how it embodies Time Space Compassion 

We developed, in partnership with parents and carers (p/c), a Family Wellbeing Hub providing p/c with peer support, professional advice and support, and pathways into a range of specific supports provided by our partner organisations. 

Our families are all impacted by their children/young people's difficulties with mental health, neurodiversity, trauma, school attendance and other issues. We run a weekly peer support group for any parent/carer, offering a safe, non-judgemental space to talk about challenges, learn and gain hope from others, and reduce the isolation many feel. 

We invite our partner organisations to provide workshops and training on the issues p/c have identified as the most pressing (self-harm, suicide prevention, neurodiversity, trauma), and have invited service managers from CAMHS and Education to listen to and learn from the group's experiences. 

We have developed a support pathway enabling p/c to quickly access the support they need, whether that be training and awareness or more intensive 1:1 support for them and/or their child/young person.

Time, space and compassion underpin the FWH. We allow parents/carers to engage with us in their own time and as they feel ready and able - there is no pressure to share and we find that while some feel safe enough to share their experiences quickly with the rest of the group, others may take weeks or months to open up. 

The group members welcome in new members and quickly make them feel at ease. All the professionals who attend the group are briefed on what to expect and are respectful of lived experience and mindful of trauma; there is no judgement when stories are shared. 

The support pathway has been built by listening compassionately to parents and cares stories, recognising their struggles and committing to improving the support systems.

Who we worked with

Our p/c are the main partners in this work and have informed developments from the start and continuously. Their children are aged 5-26 and may be connected to statutory services or not - we have no other criteria. 

We also work closely with partner services in the HSCP and NHS GGC, primarily the Youth Health Service, CAMHS, ND pathway and increasingly schools; and 3rd sector partners including Children 1st, Papyrus, Penumbra, DIFFERabled Scotland, Trauma Informed Parenting Scotland and Enquire.

How people felt

P/c feel heard and supported both by each other, by the professionals who facilitate the peer support group, and by the statutory services that are taking on their concerns. They feel empowered to be helping one another and to be influencing service development. They feel able to hold professionals to account when they have visited the group, heard their lived experiences and committed to improvements.

Service providers who recognised the need to work with and support families, but were overwhelmed by referrals and felt unable to open a 'can of worms', are now able to raise the issue of support with families and then ensure families get the right support. They feel that this way of working is more effective and more aligned to the principles of a whole family approach and getting it right for every child. 

What we learnt

Parents and carers have learned valuable skills knowledge about the issues their children are struggling with and how they can better respond to them, for example being able to raise the issues of self harm and suicide rather than being afraid to do so.

Services have learned about the impact of supporting a child or young person on parents/carers and wider family members, and have learned which approaches can help and which do not. For example, signposting has been highlighted as an unhelpful approach for families that are overwhelmed with their c/yp's immediate support needs, feel they are on suicide watch, and do not have the time or capacity to go through lists of organisations and then explore websites in the hope of finding the right support; however a compassionate conversation can help to identify the most pressing needs, and having strong partnerships with supporting services enables quick referrals to the right information that can make a huge difference to how that family copes.

Overall we have gained a support system that really works for children, young people and families, and for the services that support them.

What difference it made

Families now have access to both emotional and practical support that recognise the impact of caring for a child/young person who is going through difficulties. They are able to quickly gain the knowledge and told they need to manage emotional and behavioural challenges in the home, and are starting to be able to address issues at school also. 

They have a safe space where they know they will be supported and will also experience fun and joy as a parent/carer with other parents/carers. Many have said that no matter how bad things are they know they can attend the group and that they will leave feeling better, and they also say that they feel hope. 

P/c tell us this is the most useful support they have had in their sometimes long support journeys with their children. It has improved relationships and reduced family conflict because p/c understand the issues better and are able to respond to their children more compassionately and effectively. We have also been told more than once by people that they 'wouldn't be here' without this support.