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“It’s a lifeline”: Generating a sense of social connectedness through befriending parents of disabled children or children with additional need

Blake, Lucy; Bray, Lucy; Carter, Bernie

“It’s a lifeline”: Generating a sense of social connectedness through befriending parents of disabled children or children with additional need Thumbnail


Authors

Lucy Bray

Bernie Carter



Abstract

Objectives
This study explored the influence of a parent-to-parent peer support scheme on the wellbeing of parents of disabled children or children with additional need who joined a befriending scheme.

Methods
A longitudinal concurrent mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) research design collected data (telephone interviews, Footsteps Tool, Resilience Scale-14) with 33 befriendees (1:1 or group support) and 33 befrienders at time-point 1 (TP1). TP2 data were collected from 20 befriendees and 16 befrienders 6–9 months after recruitment.

Results
There was some improvement on average scores between TP1 and TP2 on both tools. The strongest evidence of change - ‘a sense of positivity and hope’ and ‘connection, belonging and sharing’ - was in the parents' reports of how the scheme helped them to build secure and valued social connections within a community of other parents who understood their lives.

Conclusion
Both the befriendees and befrienders reported the sense of hope and a feeling of belonging as key benefits that resulted from the social connections they gained from the scheme.

Practice implications
Social connectedness is likely to be a more useful concept than resilience in examining change.

Citation

Blake, L., Bray, L., & Carter, B. (2019). “It’s a lifeline”: Generating a sense of social connectedness through befriending parents of disabled children or children with additional need. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(12), 2279-2285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2019.07.012

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 10, 2019
Online Publication Date Jul 11, 2019
Publication Date Dec 1, 2019
Deposit Date Oct 3, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Patient Education and Counseling
Print ISSN 0738-3991
Electronic ISSN 1873-5134
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 102
Issue 12
Pages 2279-2285
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2019.07.012
Keywords General Medicine
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7522227
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: “It’s a lifeline”: Generating a sense of social connectedness through befriending parents of disabled children or children with additional need; Journal Title: Patient Education and Counseling; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2019.07.012; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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