Impact

GroBrain in Uganda and Rwanda

In July, Camilla Douglas from GroBrain teamed up with Isobel Tutt-Leppard from a charity called Lullaby Africa, to teach mothers in rural areas about attachment and brain development. There was a great deal of interest, and 1,500 mums came along over two weeks. Many would have walked for several hours (with babies on their backs) to get to the sessions. All of them breastfeed their babies. Many only eat once a day.

It was hair-raising travelling to such remote places, along steep deeply rutted tracks that would not be considered safe here. But it was a privilege to help these amazing mothers get their babies off to a good start in exceptionally difficult circumstances… no running water, no buggies or modern baby equipment, no toys, cooking every meal from scratch on an open fire, and living hand-to-mouth. Their generosity and joy was humbling and their singing was out of this world - the babies loved it!

 

Cardiff Parenting Services

GroBrain Baby Course is routinely offered in antenatal and postnatal settings.

We have been providing ongoing training of Cardiff Parenting Services staff for the last 5 years.

Evidence of uptake

Over 3000 practitioners have been trained to use GroBrain in their practice, including health visitors, midwives, family support workers, perinatal mental health practitioners, nursery nurses, speech/language/play therapists, childcare and nursery staff, social workers, voluntary agencies and anyone working with or supporting young families.

If each practitioner has an average caseload of 200 families, they are reaching 400,000 families in total.

100% of trainees strongly agree this course will have a positive impact on their practice

All report they intend to use GroBrain in their regular practice with parents 1:1 or in groups.

‘Staff felt they would be using the approach often, if not daily, in their work with parents.’

‘There were repeated comments on the usefulness of the resources in explaining brain.’

GroBrain Theory of Change

INPUTS

  • Delivered by a wide range of practitioners/services.

  • ‘Bite-sized 121 interventions discussing IMH topics.

  • 4-5 group sessions for Grobrain Baby and Toddler courses.

  • High quality manualised programme and training.

  • Can easily be incorporated into other programmes/interventions.

  • Memorable visual aids that are easy to explain and easy for parents to understand.

  • Cost effective & instant usability.

THEMES

  • Interactive learning about bonding and attachment, infant brain development, emotional regulation, attunement and cognitive stimulation.

  • Simple activities to enhance the parent-infant relationship.

  • Health promotion about perinatal mental health (including fathers)

  • Supporting safeguarding and ACE awareness.

SHORT TERM

  • Improved confidence in parenting an infant.

  • Improved parent-infant relationship.

  • Increased understanding of reasons for infant distress.

  • Shift in attitudes (“There are no naughty babies or toddlers”)

  • Increased warmth and reduced hostility.

LONG TERM

  • Increased likelihood of accessing further parenting support.

  • Lifelong Increased understanding of emotional development and emotional health.

  • Increased likelihood of child feeling able to talk to parent about their troubles.

  • Increased likelihood of lifelong emotional wellbeing.

  • Increased capacity to self-regulate.

Evaluation of child outcomes

 

We gather data from parents pre-course, immediately post-course and 3-6 months post-course.

3-6 months post-course evaluation

100% of respondents could still remember simple ways to build the connections in their baby’s brain (e.g. smiles, cuddles, baby talk)

86% reported doing these things many times a day.

71% reported that the course had helped them understand brain development, (29% reported it had also increased their knowledge but they knew a lot about brain development already)

Child Outcomes

We are now engaged in gathering data on Child Outcomes, using MORS (Mother’s Object Relations Scales).