NEYDL-Annual-Rep-2023.indd

‘I’ve worked in services for many years and there are so many people who would have benefitted from North East Young Dads and Lads if it had been around then.’ (Advanced Nurse Practitioner) ‘My observation has been that NEYDL’s just been really innovative and got this group of lads, what can we do to get them together, meeting each other, talking with each other about wellbeing without saying right, you’ve got to come here and talk about your feelings.’ (Community Perinatal Mental Health Team) 16 North East Young Lads & Dads | ANNUAL REPORT 2023 DAD2DAD PERINATAL HEALTH PROJECT By Jan Rigby and Robert Oughton By Robert: Over the last year, Jordan Richardson and I have delivered a part-time peer support service on behalf of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust enabling young dads, expectant fathers, and non-birthing people whose families are supported by the Perinatal Community Mental Health Team to access help, support, and befriending. Following 9 initial referrals to the service, the Dad2Dad Perinatal Health Project has provided intensive 1:1 support to 7 young dads and families, including help to attend child protection meetings, relationship skills support, gym sessions and parenting support using the charity’s DigiDAD e-learning platform. Through the charity’s Crisis Fund one family was also supported to purchase and fit new carpets to a bare upstairs flat where a young child resided. In addition to this individual help, 4 of the young dads have engaged in a range of peer supported group work opportunities including father and child focused Stay and Play sessions, peer and professionally moderated online video gaming sessions and social events including bowling, Escape Rooms, pool, cinema trips and restaurant visits. Further, 4 of the young dads have progressed into volunteering roles within the charity including as trustees, AmbassaDADS and DigiDAD content co-creators (including the development of the Think Dad! Father Inclusive Practice Toolkit and a 6-part perinatal mental health film and animation series covering themes including self-care, supporting partners, suicidal thoughts, loss, and bereavement). Following the completion of this project, Jordan has secured employment outside of the charity and I have progressed into full time employment with the charity, supporting the development and delivery of our new Durham Family Hub service. By Jan Rigby (Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Perinatal Community Mental Health Team): Meeting and supporting the dads whose partners access the Perinatal CMHT is important. We know becoming a father is a huge transition and when their partner becomes unwell this can impact on their own mental health. Dads often take on caring roles for their baby and their partner. For this reason, the Long-Term Plan promoted an assessment to help us understand the dads’ mental health and wellbeing needs. Many of the dads we meet have ongoing mental health needs separate from caring and parental roles. How do we promote wellbeing and promote resilience alongside strengthening infant mental health knowledge? The offer of an assessment seems simple, however, promoting authentic engagement can be difficult with barriers, often around trust, fear of being judged, and not feeling we give dads a place to discuss their needs. This is complicated further if the couple separates. Working with NEYDL on the Dad2Dad Perinatal Health Project has been a fabulous opportunity for us to think together about how best to support dads. The charity’s ethos, coming from a youth service approach, always starts with en- gagement. They recognise engagement can take many forms and it does not start with an assessment which requires a conversation about what might be making a dad feel vulnerable. They acknowledge these conversations happen over time. We found Doug, Robert and Jordan’s approach to building relationships with the perinatal service staff worked well to support our discussions with dads. Perinatal staff expressed that they were better able to have more meaningful conversations with the men we met, and this led to a number of dads flourishing during their work with the charity. Understanding that services are keen to help and support dads and recognising the project was to last just over a year with an ambitious aspiration for us to develop a better understanding of how to support fathers. NEDYL’s exploration and development of the Think Dad! tool kit and DigiDAD expansion to include perinatal mental health, enables an improved understand- ing many services can utilise. It has been a great year working together. We hope the shared intention to offer dads the best start in their journeys will continue to develop and go from strength to strength .