ParenTalk virtual peer support group

Are you a parent with mild-moderate anxiety, depression or low mood, with a child under five years of age? The ParentTalk group is here to help.

Join the new virtual peer support group for parent and infant wellbeing support. The group explores the emotional wellbeing of both parent and infant, supports healthy parent/child relationships and encourages parents to connect with and support each other. The aims of this informal group are to:

• reduce isolation among parents with children during COVID-19
• improve emotional wellbeing of parents
• facilitate parent discussion around parent and infant emotional health
• encourage parents to set up their own ongoing support group.

The group of 6-8 parents or carers is facilitated by a health visitor and community nursery nurse or a colleague from BCP Early Help Family Hubs via Microsoft Teams. Each session lasts 1 to 1.5 hours.

The course takes place digitally over a six-week period and each week focuses on a different aspect of parent and infant wellbeing.

In the pilot sessions mums' said that it was “comforting to hear others have the same experiences” and feedback from dad's was that “it was very helpful to discuss things with other dads.”

If you are interested in attending, contact your local health visiting team and inform them that you would like to attend Parentalk. A health visitor will then contact you to discuss the group with you and arrange to complete a referral with you or suggest another service.

Dad's group

The next dad’s group starts on 14 September at 6pm. Referrals are welcome.

Mum’s group

The next mum's group starts week commencing 31 October. Exact date and time to be confirmed. Referrals are welcome.

For parents who attend the group

You will be sent an email invitation containing a link each week for the ParenTalk session. Please note: all parents invited to the group may be able to see each other’s email addresses on this invitation.

You can click on the link a few minutes before the group is due to start, when you do this, you can sign in to Microsoft Teams as a guest and enter your name.

You will then be asked to wait for a short time while the course facilitator lets you in.

This group is a new service development. We would value your feedback so that we can make sure that we offer the right support to families in Dorset. A link to an anonymous survey will be sent to you in the welcome email.