The peer support we offer is based on strong evidence of what parents want and need. We continuously learn from national and international research. Further information about the wealth of evidence that underpins our Pregnancy Pal and Birth Buddy programme in Essex can be found here.
We also strive to continuously improve the peer support we offer by asking local parents for their views and feedback and by asking others to evaluate what we deliver in Essex.
An external evaluation of our peer support in Essex was carried in 2012 by Gillian Granville and Associates. This showed that:
- Parents built confidence and were better prepared for birth and parenthood
- Parents, children, and peer supporters had improved health and wellbeing
- Being a peer supporter led to new employment pathways.
Renaisi carried out a further evaluation of our peer support in Essex in 2016. This showed the importance of the holistic peer support we provide because every parent’s individual circumstances differ. Renaisi worked with us to develop a new evaluation tool called “The Wheel of Circumstance”This better reflects the individually tailored peer support we offer and enables parents to track their own progress.
To read the full report from Renaisi click here.
Read more about the research and practice experience that underpins our peer support model here.