Published on: 19th August 2019
Two of our fantastic staff travelled to Belarus to share their knowledge on children’s mental health with parents and professionals who look after their children.
Sally Trowse, ADHD clinical nurse, and Dr Kay Harvey, consultant child psychiatrist, work in our children and adolescent mental health services, and visited Belarus with the Chernobyl Children’s Project UK (CCP UK).
They spent five days in Gomel, Belarus’ second largest city, teaching parents and professionals techniques to better support children with autism, learning disabilities, ADHD or trauma.
Sally and Kay spoke to parents with children who had been diagnosed with autism or learning disabilities, and gave advice on improving communication. One suggestion was to use a picture exchange communication system, which involves laying out pictures to help young people point to what they’d like to say.
They also discussed how to manage challenging behaviour in and out of school, substance misuse and autism, with a range of mental health professionals during the training sessions.
While they were visiting Belarus, they also joined in with local celebrations when Minsk hosted their annual Great British Festival. Thousands of people came together to enjoy music and food in the sunshine. Sally and Kay supported the CCP UK stall, raising awareness of their work while children were given balloon animals and Union Jack tattoos.
We've developed close links with CCP UK over recent years, and several professionals from Pennine Care have already delivered training in Belarus. Staff from Belarus also regularly come to the UK to visit local schools and health care settings.