Oct 29, 2018
Iriss.fm is delighted to broadcast an episode on the work of Plumtree, an Australian not-for-profit organisation that provides support for young children from birth to 8 years old with a developmental delay or disability and their families.
Sylvana Mahmic (CEO) and Dr Melanie Heyworth (Peer Worker) tell the story of Now and Next, a project that has been successful at involving families as peer workers in early childhood intervention.
Three key messages:
Peer workers offer unique benefit to families of young children with disabilities that are not available through existing services, but which are complementary to them. Benefits include feelings of leadership, agency and community. Learning from mental health practice could be applied to the disability sector, so there was no need to spend time reinventing the wheel. It made it cost effective, quick and provided maximum benefit. Implementation of peer work into any existing organisation will face challenges and barriers, but these can be mitigated by pre-emptive organisational action.
Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes