€3M SECURED TO SUPPORT FAMILIES
INITIATIVE TO HELP FAMILIES OF ADHD CHILDREN
Funding for an innovative new early intervention programme which will help local families with young children affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was announced last week.
The Changing Lives Initiative new cross border project has received €3million through the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and will focus on border areas in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
The Changing Lives Initiative is aimed at families of children aged 3 to 7 with a pattern of behaviour consistent with ADHD. It is estimated that as many as 8 to 11 per cent of school aged children have ADHD. While international guidelines for treating this disorder suggest parent education and training programmes as the first line of treatment, this option is not available to families in these regions.
The Changing Lives Initiative will offer a programme for families consisting of an information and awareness raising programme, a screening programme, and a treatment service in the form of the 20 session Incredible Years parenting programme. In tandem with this process there will be training for those working with young children, in particular teachers and early years professionals.
Hugh Doogan, of The Genesis Programme, who will delivering the initiative in Co Louth said: ‘ The Changing Lives Initiative is an innovative new project that will provide a much needed support for families with children aged 3 to 7 years who are concerned about ADHD. The Initiative aims to significantly reduce dependence on medicalised interventions among this group of children by providing a high quality evidence based programme to the local community. This project will make a real difference to families locally.
The project will be evaluated by researchers in the NetwellCasala Centre in Dundalk Institute of Technology, led by Dr Lucia Carragher, Research Fellow at the NetwellCasala Centre in Dundalk Institute of Technology said: ‘DkIT is one of the leading Institutes of Technology with an international reputation in terms of its research. As a core research centre within DkIT, our work on this project will support evidence based practice not just locally but in Northern Ireland and Scotland, helping to shape policy in the years ahead’.
The Initiative will be rolled out in County Louth and West Belfast in coming months.