Back to List

Compare
Print Share

Parent-to-Parent (P2P) Mentoring via Family Support Network of North Carolina (FSN NC)

Category

Child & Family Health

Child's Age

Prenatal, 0-1 years, 1-2 years, 2-3 years, 3-4 years, 4-5 years

Participant

Parents/Guardian

Languages

English, Spanish

Brief Description

Parent-to-Parent (P2P) mentoring provides one-on-one connections with trained, experienced parent mentors to families of individuals with disabilities and/or special health care needs to ensure parents/caregivers have access to emotional support from a peer who understands what they are going through. P2P mentoring is provided in partnership with the Family Support Network of North Carolina (FSN NC) as the P2P USA Ally in NC.

Expected Impact

  • Increase in parent’s knowledge of their child’s diagnosis, treatment, and resources in the community
  • Reduction in parent stress and anxiety

Core Components for Model Fidelity

  • Parent Mentor Orientation Training: Parents attending this training are recommended by FSN staff or community partnership agency staff members. These parents demonstrate advocacy and leadership skills and have a stated desire to support others on their journey. Parent mentors are trained to offer emotional support and resources to caregivers with whom they are matched.
  • Parent Matching: Parent matching is the act of matching a trained mentor to a caregiver of a loved one with a disability who has expressed a desire for support on their caregiving journey. This service is offered after a needs assessment is conducted or when a parent/caregiver specifically requests it through FSN. Affiliates follow a specific matching protocol designed after the P2P USA guidelines. Once a request has been made, the affiliates find a trained parent mentor either through their regional affiliate database, the statewide database or the national P2P database and the trained mentor is asked to reach out to the parent requesting support within 48 hours.
  • Analyzing the Service: P2P mentoring is analyzed by using FSN-developed surveys. Surveys are provided to participants once they have completed the FSN Parent Mentor Orientation Training. Surveys are also given to parent mentors and parents requesting support after a match has been made and closed to determine the outcomes of the service.

Languages Materials are Available in

English, Spanish

Delivery Mode

P2P mentoring is provided through various, as agreed upon by the parent mentor and the caregiver they are matched with. For example, caregivers and their parent mentor may choose to meet in person, over the phone, via text or virtual meeting platforms like Zoom. Confidentiality requirements remain the same no matter which delivery mode is selected. 

Dosage

At minimum, the parent mentor connects with the parent requesting support within 48 hours. The parent mentor connects with the parent requesting support at least 4 times within 8 weeks.

Infrastructure for Implementation

Infrastructure needs vary based on the partnership contract.

Materials: Basic office supplies, equipment, and materials for the FSN Coordinator.

Space: Office space for the FSN Coordinator. 

Staffing Requirements

Parent mentors are volunteers. 

The management of the parent mentor database, training of the parent mentors, family engagement efforts and matching process is managed by an FSN Coordinator. 

If a Smart Start Local Partnership (LP) is interested in hosting a FSN parent matching program, they will partner with FSN of NC and design a contract that meets their needs (see below for opportunities). Please contact Laurel Powell at powelllm@fsn.org for more information on establishing a contract with FSN of NC. 

  • Sharing a Part-Time Coordinator: The LP and FSN of NC share a part-time Coordinator dedicated to parent matching in their community. 
  • In Kind Partnership: The LP offers office space, equipment, other overhead, or indirect resources and FSN provides the Coordinator.  

Depending on the size of the catchment area, the FSN Parent Matching program can typically be managed through a 0.5 or 0.75 FTE.

Training for Model Fidelity

Parent mentors are required to participate in the official FSN Parent Mentor Orientation Training. This is a 3-hour training course completed either in person or over Zoom and is offered quarterly statewide.

Training requires parents to independently watch a series of 9 videos and take a quiz. After completing the quiz, parent mentors complete a confidentiality form and parent information form. Then, parent mentors are invited to participate in an in person/virtual training session.

Once a caregiver completes this training, they are added to the FSN Parent Mentor database to be matched with a parent when a need arises for which they have experience navigating.

Contact Information

https://www.p2pusa.org/ 

https://fsp.unc.edu/parent-to-parent

Laurel Powell: FSN Program Manager; powelllm@unc.edu 

Cost Estimates

Because P2P programs are run through FSN of NC, the costs of a partnership are minimal. The partnership contract funds a percentage of an FTE and covers basic materials. In kind partnerships may also be arranged for smaller programs where office space/supplies/etc. are offered in return for an FSN dedicated Coordinator.

Purpose Service Code (PSC)

 5417 - Early Intervention Services

Program Identifier (PID)

Family Support Network of NC 

Minimal Outputs for NCPC Reporting

FY 24-25:

  • Number of parents/guardians participating†

Minimal Outcomes for NCPC Reporting

FY 24-25:

  • Increase in parent use of services
  • Increase in parent social support

Minimal Measures for NCPC Reporting

FY 24-25:

  • Parent Use of Services Calculation
  • Life Skills Progression: Parents' Social Support

Research Summary

Two of the most recent publications on the impacts of parent-to-parent (P2P) programs include a qualitative study sampling mothers with infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)1 and a qualitative study that sampled families with deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children.2 These studies sampled diverse families with complex needs and analyzed themes in the conversations between parent mentors and the families they supported. Both studies found that families turned to their parent mentors for emotional support that only someone with lived experience can provide as well as information about their child’s diagnosis, resources in the community, and ways to support their child’s development. Families reported feeling less isolated, stressed, and guilty after connecting with a parent mentor who helped normalize their experience and provided comfort and solace that their friends and family members may have struggled to do without the unique experience of having “been there.” Parent mentors helped families process their thoughts and feelings and answer questions that they struggled to communicate with professionals, which was particularly beneficial to mothers with a baby in the NICU whose primary language differed from that of the NICU staff. The results of these studies indicate a crucial emphasis on representation for diverse populations as having a shared cultural background as well as experience raising a child with the same or similar health concerns provided the basis for a trusting, understanding relationship between parent mentors and families.

Please note that much of the evidence on P2P programs has not been updated since the early 2000s. The studies cited here are approximately 10-15 years old. Outcomes may vary depending on the intended audience and conditions that may have changed over significant periods of time. 

 

  1. ^ See Ardal et al. (2011). This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews to analyze the experiences of non-English speaking mothers with very low birth weight (VLBW) infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a university teaching hospital in a large, diverse city in Canada. The sample population included 8 mothers of 9 infants (one set of twins, seven singletons) whose first languages were Spanish (n = 4), Mandarin (n = 2), Portuguese (n = 1), and Tamil (n = 1). The average birth weights of the infants was 981.11 grams and all infants fell into the NICU's category of very low (< 1,500g) or extremely low (< 1,000g) birth weight. The average gestation period was 26.8 weeks and the average length of stay in the NICU was 83.5 days. Infants were diagnosed with conditions such as respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), apnea of prematurity (AOP), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), sepsis, and more. All infants required breathing support or resuscitation due to RDS and AOP. Seven of the 9 infants were diagnosed with ROP. Mothers were matched with parent-buddies who had experience with a child in the NICU, a capacity to develop empathic listening skills via a day-long training and were linguistically and culturally matched with the mothers. Buddies were also supported the social worker on staff at the hospital. Mothers engaged in communication with their buddy at different levels, with the frequency of contacts ranging from 5 to more than 20 conversations (telephone calls) over a period of 1 to 12 months. Research assistants conducted semi-structured interviews with mothers via telephone between 4 to 12 weeks after the infant was discharged from the NICU. Interviews were transcribed and coded to identify similar themes across the mothers' experiences. Four core themes were identified across the interviews: unanticipated crisis of preterm birth; situational crisis of complex NICU setting; developmental crisis of loss of healthy baby at term; and perceptions of the parent-buddy intervention (93). Mothers reported feeling an overwhelming cascade of emotions, including shock, anger, anxiety, guilt, and helplessness. Many mothers had very limited contact with their VLBW infants during the first few weeks of care in the NICU. Mothers found the NICU environment highly complex and were often rendered speechless. Even mothers who were fluent in multiple languages felt they could not express themselves due to shock. The mothers also felt pulled in different directions, especially if they had other children, as it was hard to balance the need to be in the NICU with their infant and the need to be at home with their other children. Mothers reported an awareness of the loss of a healthy baby at term and the roles and relationships they had anticipated. They struggled to learn how to care for their infants as the NICU staff were the baby's primary caregivers at the beginning. The mothers felt a lack of empathy from their friends and family members who made comments like, "Don't worry, he'll be fine," as these well-intentioned comments did not capture the reality of what their baby was going through. Mothers reported that the buddies filled the gaps where their friends and families could not, because these buddies had similar experiences and understood what they were going through. Buddies helped to normalize the mothers' experiences, relieve guilt and anxiety, and reduce feelings of isolation. They also had a shared culture, which comforted mothers whose families did not live nearby or who were new immigrants. This shared understanding of their culture allowed mothers to open up and feel understood from the beginning of their relationship with the buddy and build a strong foundation of trust. Buddies provided mothers with informational support that mothers struggled to ask the NICU staff due to language barriers and difficulty understanding medical jargon. Study limitations included a small sample size and the lack of interviews with fathers. Additionally, the NICU in this study was very diverse and representative of most cultures of the mothers sampled. NICUs that are more culturally homogenous/less diverse may need to emphasize the importance of representation to support mothers from diverse backgrounds.
  2. ^ See Narr & Kemmery (2015). This qualitative study explored the impacts of a parent-to-parent (P2P) support program for 1,056 families with deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. The researchers utilized data from an existing database for a P2P program, focusing on data collected from March 2009 to August 2011. Parent mentors contacted families primarily via telephone and created brief summaries of the contents of their conversation to enter into the database. There was no formal process in place for capturing the content of conversations. Information from summaries in the database were analyzed to identify themes of the families' conversations. The sample included 5 parent mentors who have a DHH child(ren) and had experience providing P2P support organically through their own initiative and personal networks. Parent mentors completed training on mentoring/coaching, listening techniques, and issues pertaining to parents raising a DHH child. Additionally, parent mentors received supervision and guidance from the project coordinator. All parent mentors were hearing mothers, and three parent mentors spoke multiple languages, including English, Spanish, and American Sign Language (ASL). Demographic information was not available for all participants. Of those who did provide demographic information, 35% spoke Spanish at home and 66.5% of families had children ages 0-3 years (n = 686). Given that most children were very young and not yet fully diagnosed, data related to the children's hearing characteristics were limited. The data indicated that most children had bilateral hearing loss (66%, n = 572) and primarily sensorineural hearing loss (56%). Of the 583 children for whom hearing levels were available, children primarily had profound hearing loss (37.5%) or moderate hearing loss (27.8%). Topics that were frequently addressed in conversations with parent mentors included hearing-related conversations (i.e., screenings, diagnostics, hearing aids and/or cochlear implants); early intervention; and other themes that occurred less frequently but were still noteworthy (parent stress, concerns about immigration and deportation among Spanish-speaking families, parent proactivity and willingness to learn, and biases against use of ASL). Parent mentors connecting with Spanish-speaking families spoke with almost twice as many fathers as the English-speaking parent mentors. Spanish-speaking families were also more likely to disagree or resist the child's hearing diagnosis than English-speaking families. The results of this study indicate that families turned to parent mentors for resources and information related to their child's hearing loss as well as emotional support from someone who had experience raising a DHH child. This study is limited by the lack of clear guidelines in the process for mentors to collect information from families, hence the incomplete demographic information, and  lack of information directly from parents regarding their experiences with the P2P program.

Researched Population

  • Mothers with a very low birth weight infant receiving care in the NICU
  • Families with deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children
  • New immigrants and parents whose primary language was Spanish, Tamil, Mandarin, and Portuguese

Ardal, F., Sulman, J., & Fuller-Thomson, E. (2011). Support Like a Walking Stick: Parent-Buddy Matching for Language and Culture in the NICU. Neonatal Network, 30(2), 89-98. https://doi.org/10.1891/0730-0832.30.2.89

Narr, R. F., & Kemmery, M. (2015). The Nature of Parent Support Provided by Parent Mentors for Families With Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Children: Voices From the Start. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 20(1), 67–74. http://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enu029

Family Support Network of North Carolina (FSN of NC)

Parent to Parent USA (P2P USA)



Local Partnerships Currently Implementing

Local Partnerships in purple have adopted Parent-to-Parent (P2P) Mentoring via Family Support Network of North Carolina (FSN NC). Local Partnership contact information can be found here.