05 September 2024
Practitioners Involvement with E-PAtS
Families and professionals worked together to create E-PAtS, and practitioners and family carers deliver the programme together. Families bring expertise from their lived experience and practitioners bring their own experience and skills; in E-PAtS both are equally important.
We have been very fortunate to be able to continue to work with Barnet Mencap to deliver E-PAtS as part of the research study.
Working alongside a family carer, Valerie Lam is a dedicated professional from Barnet Mencap who delivers E-PAtS as part of the study. Valerie has worked for Barnet Mencap for 10 years and has lots of experience in delivering workshops and providing support for families around accessing additional information that may be helpful for them.
“I am very excited to be part of this research project, delivering E-PAtS to families. Research like this is so important as it allows us to enhance the support we provide and ensures that parents receive the most relevant information.”
25 June 2024
X Newly Trained E-PAtS Facilitators
All E-PAtS facilitators must complete a 5-day manualised training programme to be able to deliver the E-PAtS programme to families.
During Autumn 2023, parent carers and professionals worked together to train X new facilitators to deliver E-PAtS across the UK, making E-PAtS more accessible to families of young children with additional developmental needs.
11 June 2024
Evaluation and Experiences of Parents Attending E-PAtS
Report now available
The experiences of caregivers attending the E-PAtS programme has been published and is available to view and download.
22 April 2024
New E-PAtS Groups Starting This Week
Exciting news! Two more E-PAtS groups will be starting this week in Finchley Central and Edinburgh.
We will let you know about new groups closer to the time.
15 April 2024
New E-PAtS Groups Successfully Completed
We are excited to let you know that we have successfully completed E-PAtS groups in Cumbria, Finchley Central, Belfast, West Lothian, and Derry City. We are sending a huge thank you to all the staff and families who participated.
We will let you know about new groups closer to the time.
22 Feb 2024
Families Involvement with E-PAtS
Working together with families has been central to E-PAtS from its very beginning.
Families and professionals worked together to create the programme, and family carers deliver the programme with practitioners. Families bring expertise from their lived experience and practitioners bring their practitioner experience and skills; in E-PAtS both are equally important.
This research project holds true to these values and families have a voice at all stages of the research.
The research has a Parent Carer Advisory Group (PCAG). The PCAG is a group of 8 family carers from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are involved in a number of ways during the project. Their opinions and views help to guide the research.
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation (CBF) is a charity set up and led by a family carer that has a long history of working in partnership with families. The CBF helped to set up the PCAG for the research and supports the running of this group. Families are paid for being part of the PCAG. The PCAG is chaired by a parent carer, and E-PAtS trainer, Debbie Austin, who has a daughter who has a severe learning disability and is autistic.
“I am delighted to be part of this research project. Research of this kind is so important as it adds to the understanding of what is needed to give families the best support possible when their child has additional developmental needs.”
01 Feb 2024
The Early Positive Approaches to Support (E-PAtS) Research Study is Underway
We are pleased to share that our research project focused on early support for families raising a young child (under 6 years of age) with additional developmental needs has started. If you would like to read more about the E-PAtS RCT from our lead of parent carer engagement, please click <HERE> for a one page summary.
Over the next few months, we will be inviting families to take part in the study in Finchley Central (Barnet Mencap), Barrow on Furness (Carlisle Mencap), Fife (Kindred), Belfast (Mencap Northern Ireland) and Derry (Mencap Northern Ireland).
To find out more about the research click <HERE>
To view the dates for upcoming groups click <HERE>
To take part contact us at: lssjearlysupportrct@kent.ac.uk