- Note from Team Ummeed
- Information Platform
- Impact Assessment Study
- Weaving Our Voices: Narrative Therapy Conference
- In Memoriam: Dr. Divya Khurana
Note from team ummeed
The festive season is around the corner, and as we plan for the upcoming year, we would like to share some important updates with you from April to October 2019. We continue to keep families at the center of our work, and with that in mind will be launching our Information Platform soon. We conducted an Impact Assessment Study on our training vertical with an organization called Start Up!, and are happy to share the key findings from the study. Work is in full swing for our second international narrative therapy conference – "Weaving Our Voices" which will take place from 30 January-4 February, 2020.
Finally, we would like to pay our respects to the late Dr. Divya Khurana, who lost her life in a tragic accident in August 2019. She was a true friend and supporter of Ummeed, and will be missed by the Ummeed team.
From all of us at Ummeed, we wish you a very happy and healthy festive season!
We would love to hear from you and welcome feedback on communications@ummeed.org
INFORMATION PLATFORM
In November 2018, Ummeed embarked on a project to create an information platform with the objective of providing information in the form of videos in local Indian languages to parents of children with developmental disabilities. In the future, Ummeed may consider expanding the scope to other functions and services.
Why did Ummeed Decide To Build an Information Platform?
We often hear from parents who visit Ummeed that when they try to look for information related to developmental disabilities on the internet, they rarely find what they are looking for. When they do find some information, it is in English and they don’t know whether the information is from a trusted source. We expect this to be the case with such parents all across India.
In order to address this need, we decided to create content on developmental disabilities and make it available to families on a web platform which can be easily accessed using a smart phone.
Project Vision
The information platform will have evidence based, culturally relevant, easy to understand information regarding child development and related disabilities in Hindi and regional Indian languages. Most of the content will be in the form of short videos. Ummeed will actively use its network to disseminate the information. Based on the response to the platform, the possibility of having an online discussion forum/support group, and other functions will be considered in the future.
Pilot Phase
In order to take this vision forward, a pilot phase was initiated. For this phase, we chose two topics:
Down Syndrome, a ‘deep’ dive
Language Delay, a ‘broad’ area which is of interest to a larger base of caregivers
We are excited to report that we have created eight short videos in Hindi, with English subtitles. We chose Hindi so that a large percentage of the Indian population, particularly from lower socio-economic backgrounds, can access and understand the content. The content is hosted on a responsive website (www.MeriUmmeed.com) so that it can be accessed using smart phones.
Please take a few moments to watch one of our videos on how parents of children with developmental disabilities can look after their own Mental Health.
We would love to hear from you and welcome feedback on communications@ummeed.org
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Over the period of a year, Ummeed’s training vertical was assessed through an Impact Assessment Study conducted by an organization called Start Up!
We were keen to know how our trainings fared and if they were effective. The Executive Summary encapsulates our journey thus far and touches upon how we’ve been able to influence our community of trainees, families, partners, donors and others invested in children with disabilities. This study was funded by Cipla Foundation, which has also supported Ummeed's training facility over the last three years.
Key Findings and Recommendations
WEAVING OUR VOICES
Ummeed will be hosting “Weaving Our Voices”, our second international conference celebrating narrative ideas and practices in India. The Gathering will be held in Mumbai from 30th January to 4th February 2020.
We hope it will be a coming together of the narrative community to share ideas and practices of the narrative approach in the context of therapy, group work, supervision and community work especially within diverse Indian contexts. There will also be opportunities for capacity building for professionals and community workers from all over the globe. It will include pre and post conference workshops, oral and poster presentations and panel discussions from a wide range of renowned practitioners in the field.
To learn more about the Conference please see the videos of Ummeed’s Executive Director, Dr Vibha Krishnamurthy and Alfonso Diaz from Mexico, in which they share their hopes and expectations for the Gathering.
To register, please visit www.weavingourvoices.in
In Memoriam
We mourn the loss of our beloved friend and supporter – Dr. Divya Khurana, Developmental Pediatrician.
Dr. Divya Khurana was invited to be a part of Ummeed's ECHO Autism hub team for the session on Sleep Issues in Autism. She worked closely with the Developmental Pediatrician team, and also participated in the 55Km Walk for Ummeed in Goa with her family. Caring, compassionate, dedicated, she was a true friend, and will be missed by the entire Ummeed team.