Family Ambassadors team set for community expansion after inpatient success
When a child or young person has to be admitted for hospital treatment because of mental health problems, it can be an overwhelming experience for their families.
As well as coping with the stress of an already difficult situation, many parents and carers find it tricky to navigate the complexities of their child's care journey alone.
But one dedicated team from the NHFT-led East Midlands CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health service) provider collaborative is working to change that. Since 2022, the Family Ambassadors have been reaching out and making a difference to parents and carers of children who need specialist care in a CAMHS inpatient unit.
Working not just in Northamptonshire but alongside CAMHS units across the East Midlands, Family Ambassadors bring their wealth of professional and lived experience to offer invaluable support and advice to families.
They work completely separately from clinical teams, providing an independent voice, a listening ear and a helping hand to ensure parents and carers are heard, seen and involved in their child's care.
This support is offered throughout a young person's admission to a CAMHS unit, with a further meeting offered to parents or carers after they are discharged.
And because of the difference they are making working alongside CAMHS inpatient units - where they have helped more than 100 families so far - the team are soon expanding their support by reaching into CAMHS services in the community.
Shami Mposhi, Quality and Governance Lead (pictured left) for the East Midlands CAMHS Collaborative, said: "The Family Ambassadors are such a unique team because not only do they bring their professional experience to their roles, but they've also got lived experience of caring for a loved one who has accessed mental health services.
"That means they fully understand and appreciate the difficulties and emotions of having a child who is unwell - and they give hope of recovery to the families they work with."
Abby Lovesy, Family Ambassador Lead (pictured second left), said: "We've had so much fantastic feedback about the service our Family Ambassadors provide. People find that they really guide them through the complexities of the inpatient journey and take some of that additional pressure off them.
"A lot of families have also said that if they could have had this support even earlier, that might have prevented their child being admitted to hospital in the first place.
"It's because of this that we're now expanding our offer into community services and we're really looking forward to getting started with that."