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Category: Families
Infant Mental Health Awareness Week 2023: Understanding Infant Mental Health
13 June 2023
In this short animation for Infant Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, PEDAL’s Senior Policy Fellow Sally Hogg explains what we mean by ‘mental health’ in infancy and early childhood. You can also find more information and useful resources for supporting children’s mental health in the early years by clicking here.
Exploring play in hospitals in Spain, Australia and England
9 May 2023
In this article, Paulina reflects on her travels and what she has learned about Health Play Specialists and their importance to children in hospital.
INSAR 2023: Professionals’ perspectives on strengths-based autism diagnostic assessment
6 May 2023
Neurodiversity-informed approaches enable us to move away from simply understanding autism in terms of difficulties. In this video, PEDAL PhD student Emma Pritchard-Rowe presents a summary of her research on professionals’ perspectives of holistic, strengths-based approaches to diagnostic assessment – which can have a positive impact on autistic people’s wellbeing and enhance the support available […]
Understanding and supporting mental health in infancy and early childhood: A PEDAL and UNICEF UK Toolkit
14 April 2023
There is widespread concern about babies’, children’s and young people’s mental health in the UK, particularly after the pandemic. Surveys of children, young people, parents, grandparents and teachers all reveal worries about mental health. Significant evidence shows us that the foundations for lifelong mental health are laid during pregnancy and the earliest years of life. Thankfully, this is more widely […]
Play, physical activity, and physical health
5 April 2023
How can active play help improve children's access to physical activity and their physical health?
ITAKOM Conference 2023: Moving towards a strengths-based approach to autism diagnostic assessment
16 March 2023
Neurodiversity-informed approaches enable us to move away from simply understanding autism in terms of difficulties. In this video, PEDAL PhD student Emma Pritchard-Rowe presents a summary of her research on holistic, strengths-based approaches to diagnostic assessment which centre autistic voices & have a positive impact on autistic people’s wellbeing and self-esteem. This poster was originally […]
Narrative Matters: ‘Encanto’ and intergenerational trauma
20 September 2022
Read a summary of Sydney Conroy's publication about how themes in Encanto might support children's mental health.
The Links Between Play and Children’s Mental Health
8 September 2022
In this presentation, Professor Helen Dodd from the University of Exeter explains how play has changed over time, and explores how adventurous play might be considered a protective factors when it comes to children’s mental health. This talk formed part of the PEDAL Play Conference 2022, an event which brought together play researchers interested in […]
Children’s Perspectives and Experiences of Play in Hospital
8 September 2022
In this talk, PEDAL PhD student Kelsey Graber presents their doctoral research – which seeks to investigate children’s own perspectives and experiences of play in hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. This presentation was recorded on 8th September 2022 as part of the PEDAL Play Conference, an event which brought together play researchers interested in play […]
Play as Resilience, Play as Mastery: Supporting Practitioners and Families Across the UK
8 September 2022
Play is a child’s normal. Play is both a powerful means of communication, and how we understand the world that we live in. Starlight Children’s Foundation is committed to protecting the right of all children to have opportunities to play, particularly children who are seriously ill and/or engaged with the UK healthcare system on a […]