Keep it simple, practical and accessible: Supporting parental mental health in Northern Ireland

This month, NCB is delighted to meet Jemma White, the current Education and Training Manager at AWARE NI. 

AWARE NI is a depression charity in Northern Ireland, delivering mental health and wellbeing programmes into various organisations and schools. 

We asked Jemma to tell us more about the work AWARE NI do, and the ways they help support parents and infant mental health. 

1. Could you tell us a little bit more about your role and what it entails?

I’ve been working with AWARE NI since 2022, initially as an Education and Training Officer, and this year I moved into the role of Education and Training Manager.

Having worked as an Officer for several years, I’ve had the opportunity to deliver our programmes directly and work with lots of different groups and communities across Northern Ireland. That experience has been really valuable now that I’m managing the service, because I understand the programmes from both the delivery and management side.

I’m really fortunate to manage a fantastic team of Education and Training Officers, and together we oversee and deliver programmes across Northern Ireland focusing on mental health awareness, prevention and early intervention. We also work closely with our trainers and partner organisations and are always looking at how we can develop what we offer and make our programmes as accessible as possible.

My own background is in therapeutic communication and solution-focused practice, so I’m particularly passionate about early intervention and giving people practical tools and knowledge they can actually use in everyday life.

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2. Why do you think evidence-based parent programmes are needed?

I think they’re really important because we want to know that what we’re offering people is actually going to help.

Becoming a parent is such a huge life change. It can be absolutely wonderful, but it can also bring stress, lack of sleep, changes in identity and a lot of pressure. We shouldn’t assume that because somebody becomes a parent, they automatically have all the tools or knowledge they need to manage everything that comes with that.

We know from our wider work at AWARE that education and relatively simple, practical tools can make a real difference. For example, feedback from our Mood Matters Parent and Baby programmes last year showed that 98% of participants reported a better understanding of self-help techniques to improve their mental health, while 98% also reported a better understanding of the signs and symptoms of poor mental health.

We see that in the individual feedback too. Participants have described Mood Matters as providing “great information on wellbeing” and said that “the whole course was helpful.” For me, that reinforces the value of giving people straightforward information and practical tools that they can take away and use themselves.

When we bring that kind of support in at the parenting stage, there’s the potential for an even wider impact. If we help parents understand and look after their own mental health, they’re also better placed to support their children.

It’s about giving parents good, evidence-based information, practical tools and a bit more confidence in themselves. 

3. AWARE has been doing a lot of work with Mood Matters, the Parent and Baby Programme. Could you tell us a bit about that?

Mood Matters Parent and Baby is part of our wider Mood Matters programme, but it’s specifically focused on mental health and emotional wellbeing during that early stage of parenthood.

It helps parents understand the connection between our thoughts, feelings and behaviours in a really practical and accessible way. It also looks at things like stress, resilience and ways of looking after your own mental health.

One of the things I really like about the programme is that parents can bring their babies with them. That might sound like a small thing, but it removes an obvious barrier. We want support to fit around the reality of people’s lives rather than expecting parents with a new baby to somehow make their lives fit around us.

I also think there’s something valuable about parents being together and having honest conversations about mental health. There can be so much pressure around becoming a parent and feeling like you should be enjoying every minute or coping perfectly, when the reality can look very different.

So it gives people practical information, but it also helps normalise those conversations, which I think is really important.

4. Are there any moments that really stand out to you when you think about the work you’ve been doing?

It’s actually often the little pieces of feedback that stand out to me.

One participant on one of our Mood Matters programmes said that what they found helpful was simply “being able to think about my stress and anxiety levels.” I really liked that because I think it captures something important about this kind of work. People can spend so much time looking after everybody else that they don’t necessarily stop and think about how they themselves are doing.

We’ve also had people describe the programme as giving them “great information on wellbeing” and simply say that “the whole course was helpful.” Those might sound like small comments, but I think they’re really encouraging because ultimately we want people to leave with something practical that makes sense to them and that they can actually use.

I love those moments when something just clicks for somebody - when they realise there are things they can do to look after their mental health or that they’re not the only person who feels a certain way.

And I think that’s particularly important when we’re talking about parents. Parents spend so much time thinking about the needs of their children, but looking after their own mental health matters too. If we can help parents understand and look after their own wellbeing, hopefully there’s a positive ripple effect for the whole family.

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5. What do you think is currently being done well in Northern Ireland regarding infant mental health and raising awareness of it?

I think one of the really positive things is that we’re talking about infant mental health much more.

There’s a growing understanding that mental health doesn’t suddenly start when a child reaches school age. Those very early experiences and relationships matter, and I think we’re getting much better at recognising that.

There’s also some great work happening across health services, community and voluntary organisations and early years settings. We’re hearing much more about emotional development, attachment, emotional regulation and parental wellbeing, which is really encouraging.

I think we’ve made progress in raising awareness. For me, the next step is making sure the support is actually there for families when they need it, regardless of where in Northern Ireland they happen to live.

6. What would you like to see change in how mental health of infants and children in Northern Ireland is approached and understood?

I’d love to see us focus even more on prevention and early intervention.

We can still have a tendency to think about mental health support as something we need once somebody is already struggling. I’d really like looking after our mental health to become as normal as looking after our physical health.

We know that giving people practical skills can make a difference. Last year, for example, 87% of participants on our Living Life to the Full courses improved their wellbeing scores. These programmes help people recognise things like unhelpful thinking, understand stress and identify practical things they can do to help themselves.

I’d love that kind of learning to start much earlier - supporting parents from the beginning and then helping children, as they grow, to develop an emotional vocabulary and understand their thoughts, feelings and emotions.

I’d also like us to think less about the mental health of the parent and child as two separate things. If we support parents to look after their own mental health and understand their emotions, that’s naturally going to have an impact on their children too.

For me, the earlier we can give people those tools, the better.

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7. If you had an unlimited budget, what would you love to see implemented to help support infant mental health in Northern Ireland?

Oh, lots! But if the budget genuinely was unlimited, I’d love every family in Northern Ireland to have access to mental health and emotional wellbeing support right from the beginning.

I’d love evidence-based support for parents to be routinely available through pregnancy and into those early years, so that people don’t have to wait until they’re struggling before support becomes available.

I’d also invest in the people around infants and children – parents, health visitors, childcare providers, early-years staff, teachers and community organisations - so that everybody has a good understanding of emotional development and mental health.

And I’d want that support to be genuinely accessible. Where you live, what you can afford or whether you happen to know where to look for support shouldn’t determine whether you can access it.

Ultimately, I’d love us to get to a place where supporting emotional wellbeing from the very beginning is just a normal part of growing up and raising a family.

If we can give children and families those tools early, hopefully we’re not only supporting them in that moment - we’re giving them skills they can carry with them throughout their lives.

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