PCH EXTENDS SUPPORT TO YOUNG PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC ILLNESSES
Young Western Australians living with chronic illnesses will soon have access to a life-changing peer support program pioneered by the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
The Chronic Illness Peer Support (ChIPS) model is designed to empower adolescents and young adults living with chronic illnesses, which are defined as long term conditions that last more than six months and can have a significant impact on a person’s life.
Beyond their immediate health impacts, these conditions often disrupt young people at a difficult and transitional stage of life, causing them to miss out on experiences and lose touch with their peers.
Although there are various support groups in WA catering to specific illnesses, the ChIPS program being developed at Perth Children’s Hospital aims to bring young people with chronic conditions together into a collaborative and inclusive environment.
Starting with a series of introductory sessions, in which small groups share their experiences of living with a chronic illness, the program is designed to scale-up over time to provide social events (including a two-night camp) and opportunities for participants to take on advocacy, advisory and leadership roles.
In the long term, the goal of the team at Perth Children’s Hospital is to make the program self-sustaining, with activities largely overseen by people with a history of chronic illness and a personal experience of ChIPS.
The benefits of this participatory peer-support model have been widely documented through the experience of the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne, where around 120 participants are involved with the ChIPS program each year.
As well as providing opportunities for friendship and social connection, ChIPS equips young people with strategies they need to manage their physical and mental health and imparts leadership training and skills that can last a lifetime.
One participant in the program at RCH reported: “I feel as if through being sick and joining ChIPS, I have grown as a person, I have built self-confidence, have made some amazing friends, and have had some of the most amazing experiences.”
With the ChIPS model having already been adapted by services in Sydney, the Central Coast and rural Victoria, a two-year grant from the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation means that these life-changing benefits will soon extend beyond the eastern states.
The anticipated launch of the ChIPS program at Perth Children’s Hospital promises to be an exciting and hopeful milestone for young Western Australians living with chronic illnesses.
ChiPS - Chronic Illness Peer Support at Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne
Published: March 2024