The Pave Project Report - Queen's University Belfast

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The PAVE Project Report
Recommendations:
Based on our findings, services could be categorised as support and self-help groups
if they include the following:
1. Small groups of 4 to 20 people, with similar previous life experiences/stresses;
2. facilitated by one or two identified, skilled staff;
3. meeting in a regular basis at a pre-arranged venue for a pre-arranged length of
time;
4. usually, have a formal or informal agenda for the meeting.
Respite care/time-out
Respite care/time-out was offered by 15 of the groups in this study. Between 20 and
300 people availed of this service in each group. The main respite care activities were
day trips, holidays, or short breaks away, although in one case, time-out consisted of
residential work and personal development courses. The groups considered respite
care/time-out a good way of bringing people together and offer a safe environment for
their members.
Throughout the interviews, respite care/time-out proved to be a very popular service,
whether it consisted on one-day trips or on holidays abroad: