Parent carers of disabled children tend to have poorer mental and physical health than other parents. Researchers and parent carers have co-developed the Healthy Parent Carer programme to improve the health and wellbeing of parent carers of disabled children.
The programme is exclusively led by parent carers and involves working with others in a group to encourage behaviours associated with better health and wellbeing. The behaviours are called CLANGERS: Connect, Learn, be Active, Notice, Give, Eat well, Relax and Sleep, and are based on a book by Dr Phil Hammond.
Advisory groups
The topic of parent carers’ health and wellbeing was initially brought up in a PenCRU Family Faculty meeting. Since then we have worked on developing the programme, which is guided by three groups:
1. Parent carers from the PenCRU Family Faculty, who meet regularly to discuss and provide feedback on each of the stages of the programme development and testing;
2. Stakeholders, such as members of relevant organisations and charities; and
3. Experts in health-related psychological and behavioural interventions.