PARENTS AND CARERS

Welcome to the parent and carer section of the Youth PPI Café website! This part of the website aims to answer some of the main questions that parents and carers might have about the Youth PPI Café 11 to 15 years. We hope you find the information below helpful. However, if you do have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of the team. Contact details can be found at the end of the page.

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Frequently Asked Questions​​

Does my young person need any experience to attend the Youth PPI Café 11-15?

Your young person does not need to have any experience of involvement in research to attend. We are looking for people who want to be involved because they are interested in making a difference and would like to use their experiences to help shape future mental health research and service development. It would be useful if your young person has some lived experience of mental health difficulties. However, we acknowledge that lived experience might look different to different people: your young person might have experience of their own mental health difficulties or they might have experience of living with or caring for a person who has mental health difficulties. We value all lived experience and feel that different perspectives enrich research.

 

Do you I need to give my consent for my young person to get involved?

Due to the age of the young people involved in the Youth PPI Café 11-15 years, we require parental consent to attend meetings. We are aware that some research topics might be upsetting or overwhelming and so, to overcome this, parents will be notified in advance of the research topic being discussed at each meeting. Details of the research topic will be sent in advance of the meeting and we aim to give you as much time as possible to consider this. If parents are unhappy about what is going to be discussed or feel it would be upsetting for their young person, they are able to make an informed decision about consent on a meeting-to-meeting basis. This will work on an opt-out system, where you will need to notify us by replying to the email to confirm that you would not be happy with your young person attending the meeting. If your young person signs up for a meeting, we can let you know, as per the consent agreement. Alternatively, if you would prefer to provide consent for each individual session rather than follow this 'opt out' method, we can discuss this at the induction.

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Is there a confidentiality agreement?

Maintaining confidentiality is very important to us. In general, what is discussed and shared in the Youth PPI Café should not be discussed outside of the group. This is to ensure that our members feel able to share their views and opinions without fear of their views being disclosed. However, we are aware that there may be some situations where the coordinator and volunteers feel that it is in the best interests of the young person to breach confidentiality; e.g. if a young person becomes particularly distressed. In these rare situations, we would tell the young person that we are going to contact their parent or carer before doing so. More information on confidentiality will be given during the induction process, including a Confidentiality Agreement, which will need signing by both the parent/carer and their young person. This is to ensure that everyone understands why, when and how confidentiality would need to be breached.

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What safeguarding measures are in place?

Child protection and safeguarding are at the heart of our Youth PPI groups. It is our duty of care as staff to ensure that we are aware of different safeguarding issues and how they can manifest themselves in disclosures. Our coordinator and volunteers have up-to-date enhanced DBS checks and mandatory Level 3 Safeguarding Children training, which equips them to respond quickly, calmly and appropriately to any child protection or safeguarding issues that arise during a session and to ensure best practice. Some issues might require escalation and we have a Youth PPI Safeguarding Lead to deal with these cases. Contact details can be found at the end of our handbook. A copy of our PPI Child Protection and Safeguarding Strategy can be obtained upon request.

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Is there an induction process?

We feel that inductions are an important part of joining the Youth PPI Café 11-15, as they give both young people and their parents/carers an opportunity to meet the team and ask any questions they might have. We invite parents/carers and their young people to join the induction together. Inductions will be held in small groups, with other young people and their parents and carers, in addition to the Café coordinator and one of the volunteers. During the induction session, we will explain a bit more about the Youth PPI Café 11-15 and what is involved.

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Resources for Parents and Carers

• YoungMinds is the UK's leading charity committed to making sure all young people can get the mental health support they need. They not only provide useful resources for young people, but also have a section on their website dedicated to support for parents of young people with mental health difficulties:

Parents Mental Health Support | Advice for Your Child | YoungMinds

• Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families has a dedicated section on the website, which provides advice and guidance for parents and carers to help them support a child or young person experiencing poor mental health or wellbeing:

About Parents and Careers at Anna Freud Centre | Parents and Careers Advice and Guidance

They have also produced a series of podcasts called to help parents understand and manage child and family mental health problems:

Child in Mind | Podcast on Managing Children and Family Mental Health Problems | Anna Freud Centre

• Holding Space is an East Sussex based charity who provide support for parents and carers of children who are struggling with their mental health. They offer a range of services for families living in East Sussex, including parent and carer coffee mornings and specific courses for parents:

Holding Space: Family Mental Health Support in East Sussex

• West Sussex Mind offers a peer support service to help you support your young person and help improve your own well-being by meeting other parents and carers. The service aims to increase your knowledge and awareness of mental health and boost your confidence in coping with and addressing your child or young person’s mental health:

West Sussex Mind | Our parenting support

 

Further Information and Contact Details

All of this information can also be found in our Youth PPI Café 11-15 Parent and Carer Handbook: This is currently under review.

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If you would like any further information or have any questions relating to the Parent and Carer Handbook, please get in touch with Libby Warman at libby.warman1@nhs.net.

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Alternatively, if you have any general enquiries relating to the running of the Café or if you would like to book an induction, please contact us at spft.involvementinresearch@nhs.net.