Safer Internet Day 2024

Safer Internet Day 2024 takes places on 6th February with the theme of ‘Inspiring Change?  Making a Difference, Managing Influence and Navigating Change Online’.  The online world is a fast moving space with a host of new and emerging trends.  For practitioners, parents and carers who have responsibility for children and young people, it is often hard to keep up as well as understand the impact of technology and where the risks might be.

This year, the Western and Northern Trust Digital Safeguarding Steering Groups have partnered up to host a range of masterclasses focusing on these online issues and concerns so that we help practitioners promote safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children, young people and their families.

Delivered by a range of experts from across the region and the UK, the workshops will explore:

  • Technology assisted abuse
  • Incels – what they are and how to support young people
  • Online sexual abuse, sextortion and sexploitation
  • Young people and pornography
  • Supporting vulnerable young people online
  • Key messages for practitioners so they can support and advise young people and their families

Full details including Eventbrite booking information are in the flyer below.

Safer Internet Day Feb 2024

Please note for the Technology Assisted Abuse session, all HSC staff can register via LearnHSCNI (linked on brochure). For non HSC staff, please complete booking form below.

Technology Assisted Abuse Booking Form

For more information about Safer Internet Day, click here

 

Increasing help seeking – creating opportunities to engage adults in early interventions to support well-being

It is estimated in areas of the UK, 17% of the adult population have mental health problems with only 30% of those affected individuals seeking professional help. (McManus, S et.al. 2014) There is a tendency to delay help seeking and problems tend to exacerbate over time. While barriers to help seeking exist, ‘perceived need’ and accessibility has been found to be key barriers to help-seeking. (Brown, J.S.L et. Al, 2022)

ASCERT, the South Eastern and Western Health and Social Care Trusts have been working to bring support to people at a much earlier stage. We have created 3 free on- line self-help resources with workbooks that can be downloaded and visual clips that guides the viewer through the workbooks at their own pace.

  • Using Self Compassion to Improve Wellbeing and Support Growth Self Compassion | ASCERT
  • Bend Don’t Break: Low intensity CBT based self-help to support resilience

https://www.ascert.biz/bend-dont-break/

 

Engaging workshops: From September 2023 until March 2024, 9 psychoeducational workshops, have been organised via zoom to engage participants in the work, and build motivation to make use of the on-line interventions. This work is early intervention and not aimed people with more serious embedded challenges.

Evaluation: Each of the psychoeducational workshops will have an evaluation and each of the on-line interventions has an evaluation component on its web platform, all be it qualitative, to gauge impact.

You Tube Clips to support well-being: Additional You Tube Clips to support conversations on well-being have been developed through ASCERT and the South Eastern H&SCT with written resources the viewer can download from the description on the You Tube site.

References

Brown, J.S.L et. al. How Can We Actually Change Help-Seeking Behaviour for Mental Health Problems among the General Public? Development of the ‘PLACES’ Model. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 2831.

McManus, S.; Bebbington, P.E.; Jenkins, R.; Brugha, T. Mental Health and Wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014; NHS Digital: Leeds, UK, 2016.

Calendar of events

The pyscho-educational sessions below are aimed at applying the content for one’s personal use and development. They are open to any adult including practitioners.

Training for practitioners to use this type of low intensity work as “guided self-help” will have additional training events in the winter of 2024.

It would help practitioners who want to use the resources in their work to have a greater understanding of the content by personal application by attending these pyscho-educational sessions though not mandatory.

Course

 

Date Time
Bend Don’t Break Tuesday 16th January 24 10am – 1pm
Self-Compassion Tuesday 20th February 24 10am – 1pm
Building Our Children’s Developing Brain Tuesday 12th March 24 10am – 1pm

Sign up for any of the sessions is through Event Brite coordinated by the Western Trust. See the training brochure from the Western Trust  Health Improvement, Equality and Involvement Training Brochure | Western Health & Social Care Trust (hscni.net)

What is coming next.

A 4th on-line intervention is under construction on using the Polyvagal Theory to Support Well-Being and will be ready to pilot in November 2023 through Autism NI and foster carers in the South Eastern Trust.

The self-help booklet is currently on the South Eastern Trust’s website.

Nervous-System-Brochure-Final.pdf (hscni.net)

 

 

FSH Newsletter – December Edition

The December edition of the Family Support Hub Newsletter is now available https://cypsp.hscni.net/download/391/family-support-hubs/42335/dec23-fsh-newsletter.pdf

(Please Note: Newsletter will download directly to your device.  Look out for the pop-up box and click on open file when it appears).

As usual this edition of the Family Support Hub Newsletter is stuffed full of information, events and good news stories across the Family Support Network and beyond. We’re continuing our “meet the Coordinator” feature with an interview with Deborah Burnett from our Greater Falls Hub, thanks to Deborah for being the Hub star in our Christmas Newsletter.

It is also packed full of information for parents/carers, early years, children & young people with a disability,  mental health and wellbeing advice,  Helplines and much more – make sure you download your copy now!

Previous editions of the newsletter are available at  http://www.cypsp.hscni.net/family-support-hubs  under Family Support Newsletter section.

 

‘Cost of Living’ & ‘Every Family Counts’ Events – Antrim and Ballymena

Cost of living was one of the priorities identified by children, young people and parents that the Antrim/Ballymena CYPSP Locality Planning Group (LPG) have been working on for the last few years.  Since Covid and the cost of living crisis, this has obviously become a more pressing priority, therefore some members of the Antrim/Ballymena CYPSP LPG came together to do something to help local families with this.

A decision was made to hold events in Ballymena Showgrounds and Dunsilly Hotel.

The monring sessions brought together staff to network and share knowledge about services that help people make their money go further.

The afternoon sessions “Every Family Counts” brought together lots of different organisations as a means of informing families on services available in the local area to help with cost of living, e.g. Antrim Ballymena Surestart, Employers for Childcare, Northern Ireland Childminders Association, Start 360, Mid and East Antrim Council, Ballymena Baby basics, Ballymena Hygiene Bank, Impact Network NI, Family Fund, Ballymena South Community Cluster, Sensory Kids, Women’s Aid ABCLN, Slemish Credit Union, Mid and East Antrim Community Advice Service, NHSCT Health and Wellbeing, AN council, AN Community Advice, A Safe Space to be me, Barnardo’s, Libraries NI, Parentline NI, CAP and Department of Communities.

At the events there was a free play area, free recipes books, free resources to help with cost of living, NHSCT dietitians talk about how to cook healthy, low cost meals and a smoothie bike letting children create their own fruit smoothie with pedal power!

The events allowed organisations to come together to share knowledge and helped members of the public know what help and services are available round boosting their income and making their money go further. 

Approximately 50 staff attended in the morning and afternoon at both venues.

Approximately 50 members of the public attended ‘Every Family Counts’ and learned what is out there to help with cost of living.

Thanks for all the Antrim Ballymena CYPSP LPG members, the co-chairs, and all who promoted the event and were part of the events.

 

Quotes from public who attended:

  • “A lot of helpful advice about benefits, groups and things to do in the area.”
  • “There was a range of services available for support and signposting.”
  • “There was a wide range of stalls, friendly people.”
  • “Ideas for saving energy and recipes.”

Quotes from staff who attended:

  • “I learned about various agencies that I can refer and signpost local vulnerable families to.”
  • “We had a great opportunity to network. Lots of good resources and links with other professionals which was great for us.”

Northern Family Support Hubs attended Youth Fairs

The Northern Family Support Hubs attended three Youth Fairs throughout the month of February. Five local schools were in attendance at the Youth Fairs – Carrick Academy, Carrick Grammar, Ulidia Integrated College, Larne Grammar and St. Killian’s College. The events were very successful and a great chance for young people to learn what support and services is available to them in their area.

Click here to read more on the importance and feedback from a young person attending the event.