Welcome to Listening to Families

Listening to Families videos provide answers to everyday questions about health and wellbeing challenges facing children and adolescents. The questions the videos answer are real - they come directly from families. The answers are provided by trusted specialists.

Designed for families, and for educators and health professionals working with young people, Listening to Families connects you with trusted specialists, empowering individuals, whānau and communities with advice and support.

The objective of Listening to Families is to make a difference – one family at a time. Please share the link to this resource within your community to help us make that difference.

Endorsement from Dame Sue Bagshaw

About Listening to familes

There is increasing pressure on the services that provide health advice and support to individuals and families in both the education and health sectors.  An individual or family’s journey to wellness is taking longer, and there are often multiple challenges on the way. 

Making this journey can be overwhelming and isolating. There are so many questions.  Having answers to these questions can reduce the levels of stress for an individual and their whānau.   

Listening to Families is a grassroots solution, providing families access to the answers to commonly asked questions in an easy-to-use, conversational video format.  The videos can be watched, shared, and discussed in multiple settings – in the home, with a group in the community or with an education or health professional. When an answer is provided in an individual consultation it can be hard to remember all the details that need to be shared and discussed with other members of the family.  The Listening to Families video resources ensure that the answers are always available. 

The questions asked in the Listening to Families videos come directly from families with the answers provided by trusted specialists who have volunteered their time to be part of this Canterbury-based community project. Through these videos we aim to educate and empower families, reducing the feelings of isolation that so often come hand-in-hand with health challenges. We also provide links to trusted resources that can be used to positively support a family’s journey. 

 The information on this website and in the video clips is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Who can use the Listening to Families videos?
Anyone!

For schools and health professionals:

The Listening to Families resource is a valuable and immediate tool to access targeted, advice on some big health and wellbeing challenges facing our whānau and communities. In these videos, we’ve had real-life questions from families answered by trusted specialists.

The Listening to Families video series will help those supporting our young people to understand what’s going on in the young person’s brain, suggest tools and tactics to use every day, and provide ideas of positive, proactive steps to support the child. Health practitioners or educators can share the videos with patients or families either one-to-one or in group work. The format of the videos is ideal for a group setting.

Links to the Listening to Families videos can be shared to support repeat viewing in the home and sharing with other members of the family or extended whānau. 

For individuals:

We know when your child or family member is having a tough time the whole whānau is impacted. Trying to work out what’s going on while navigating health services and keeping your child safe and happy in their home and school environment can be challenging. Your child has loads of questions, as do you as a parent, caregiver or family member. 

In the Listening to Families videos, we’ve had real-life questions from families answered by trusted specialists.. These videos will help you understand what’s going on in your child’s brain, suggest tools and tactics to use every day, and provide ideas of positive, proactive steps to support your child. Links to trusted resources are also provided.  

The Listening to Families videos are free. You can watch them in your own environment and at a pace that suits you, and you can share the videos with other members of your family, extended whānau, or friends facing similar challenges.  You can also discuss with your health professional or your child’s school. 

Video topics

Your ideas and feedback

Listening to Families is an initiative created by passionate individuals who have volunteered their time and energy to develop this free resource. The objective of Listening to Families is to make a difference - one family at a time.  Please share the link to this resource with anyone who will benefit from having this information.  We’re delighted to have been supported on this journey by the Māia Health Foundation. 

If you have any feedback on our existing videos or have a health issue that you would like to see discussed through our Listening to Families project, we would love to hear from you via the contact form. 

If any of the information provided in a video clip is no longer current ie services available, funding available please provide feedback and the content will be immediately updated or removed – thank you