Family support

It is estimated that for every child with a life limiting or life threatening condition, five family members will be directly impacted and our aim at Acorns is to provide psychosocial support for families whose child meets our eligibility criteria.
This support includes pre and post bereavement support, advocacy, coordinating services within the hospices and with other agencies and providing a variety of support groups.
What are the benefits of this service to families?
-To promote well-being and resilience and support family members to continue to meet the needs of their babies, children and young people
-To provide support groups to bring together those in similar situations, reducing isolation and helping develop resilience, self-esteem and a sense of identity
-To offer advocacy to aid access to services from other health, education and social care providers
-To provide ongoing bereavement support for as long as is needed helps the family to cope as both individuals and a family unit through the longer-term grieving process
How is the service delivered?
The Family and Transition Team Workers operate across the region both in families’ homes and in our three hospices, working closely with external professionals to ensure the children and family’s needs are met. Support is available to families 24 hours a day via an on-call system. Our team comprises a range of professional backgrounds including social work, nursing and youth work.
Holistic, needs-led assessments are conducted with families to determine agreed outcomes and the services that can be provided to meet these outcomes.
The Family Team Workers are able to offer pre and post bereavement support according to the identified need.
The Transition Team Workers support young people and their families linking them into adult services in preparation for when they leave children’s services . Click here to find out more about Transition