While there are easing of the restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial response has given us an opportunity to reflect on the role the Quality Standards are playing for groups at present. Groups have adapted the way they work in an awesome way – this is a huge credit to the peer and formal facilitators across the network for their ingenuity and resilience.

At the National Family Support Network we have reviewed the current Quality Standards. They still apply to family support groups both within the network and those who are not affiliated. However, the standards were developed based on groups only offering physical meetings. Groups have expanded their working approaches to include video, text and phone support. Therefore, to complement the work facilitators are doing, we have developed a document to highlight points to consider when offering support in a remote way.

The easing of restrictions may mean that physical meetings may resume soon. However, some groups may want to continue to offer virtual or remote elements of their service. Additionally, establishing different ways of working increases your ability to support people who may be very vulnerable during high risk months, or who are unable to attend physical meetings. This document lays out the points to consider for each standard when offering family support in an adapted way.