KCV Wellbeing Podcast Series

KCV Wellbeing Podcast Series

#1 – Connecting with Others

Carers often mention their isolation but many of them have not developed strategies or networks to assist them in overcoming these feelings. This podcast provides suggestions for kinship carers on how they can form meaningful connections with friends, family, neighbours and the community to help them support their own physical and psychological wellbeing.

The podcast also includes interviews with several carers who share their experiences of challenges the carer role has brought up and how they have managed social isolation before, during and after the pandemic.

#2 – Diet and Stress

There’s a lot of information currently available about how, what and when to eat, and some of it can be quite overwhelming and confusing.

In this podcast Kinship Carers Victoria speaks with clinical nutritionist and functional medicine practitioner Nikki Valentini, director of SuperNature Nutrition at supernature.com.au.

Nikki explains how certain foods and nutrients have been shown to help us deal better with stress and anxiety while other types of foods and eating patterns have been linked to increases in these feelings – and even to other psychological issues and illness.

The podcast also includes interviews with carers who share their relationship to food and some of their dietary patterns.

#3 – Relaxation Techniques for Carers

Deep breathing and meditation can provide you with a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit your emotional wellbeing and overall health through reducing stress.

The podcast features an interview with Eliza Terry, from YogaLiving. Eliza has been teaching Iyengar Yoga since 1998, and teaches mindfulness meditation, with a strong focus on breath work for relaxation.

The podcast also includes interviews with two carers who share details of their own experiences with trying relaxation and breathing techniques.

Also available as an adapted written transcript: Link here to download

#4 – The Benefits of Exercise

#5 – The Benefits of Hobbies 

In a recent survey on stress and wellbeing conducted by the Australian Psychological Society, four in five participants found activities like listening to music and spending time on a hobby were effective ways of managing stress.

Finding an enjoyable pastime can also enhance wellbeing, improve social connections, and even stave off depression or anxiety.

In this latest carer wellbeing podcast, KCV spoke with two carers about their carer situations and what part hobbies and other meaningful pursuits played in their lives and learned about the benefits these activities bring them.

#7 – Carer Learning and Development

In this podcast we speak with Director of Kinship Carers Victoria, Anne McLeish, who explains the importance of learning and development for kinship carers.

We also interview one Victorian carer, who tells us about the types of things she realised she needed to learn and the support she sought out once she became a kinship carer.

And we hear from Adam Lyons, Managing Director of Lancaster Consulting, who have been providing specialised support services and training for kinship and foster carers for well over a decade. Adam describes the program they run through Carer KaFE and the workshops and training they provide for carers.

#8 – Nutrition

What are the latest trends in nutrition? What does recent research say about what and how we should eat? And what the children in our care, in particular those children with neurodevelopmental disorders, should eat?

In this podcast we speak again with Nikki Valentini, Clinical Nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner and director of SuperNature Nutrition on a broad range of current topics regarding nutrition. Nikki answers some of the more common questions from carers and others regarding this topic.

#9 – The Benefits of Play

What does the latest research tell us about the benefits of play for the wellbeing of children and young people? The February 2023 edition of the Royal Children’s Hospital National Child Health Poll – Australian Families: How we play – has produced some findings of great interest to kinship carers.

In this podcast we speak with paediatrician, researcher and child health advocate Dr Anthea Rhodes, the founding director of the poll. Anthea has clinical interests in the health needs of the vulnerable child, with expertise in child behaviour and development.

#10 – Preparing for Access Visits

Access or contact visits with biological family can be challenging and may produce a range of emotions in children in kinship care families.

The visits can be formal or informal, and sometimes they are supervised by a professional, such as a child protection worker or agency worker, or even by the kinship carer themselves.

In this podcast, we speak with Adam Lyons, Managing Director of Lancaster Consulting, who addresses some of the more common issues carers face in preparing the children in their care for access visits and outlines strategies for debriefing children afterwards.

Also available as an adapted written transcript: Link here to download

#11 – Grief and Loss
Throughout our lives, grief is an unavoidable and essential part of what it is to be human. When individuals and families experience a loss, every member of the family can feel and process their grief in different ways. Grandparents, parents or carers face the difficulty of managing their caring role while knowing how to help children understand their grief – all whilst also trying to accept and deal with their own feelings.

In this podcast we speak with Janice Butera, specialist grief practitioner with Grief Australia, who shares with us her knowledge about grief and loss and the challenges that can occur for families when faced with loss. Janice also offers some strategies for families to use in navigating their way through these difficult periods.

#13 – Diet and nutrition for neurodiverse children and young people
What is neurodiversity? This is a term describing the idea that people experience and interact with the world in many varied ways but there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning, or behaving, with these differences not viewed as deficits.

Nikki Valentini, Clinical Nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner, and director of SuperNature Nutrition, joined Kinship Carers Victoria again to speak in depth about the effect of diet and nutrition on children with autism, ADHD, OCD and other manifestations of neurodiversity.

#31: Cyber safety for children and young people
Children and young people spend significant amounts of their lives online in the cyber world, but how do we ensure that their online experiences are safe? There are so many issues to consider: how do you tackle cyber bullying, deal with the threat of grooming of children, what is the right amount of screen time, how do you create a safe gaming environment?

In this podcast Susan McLean of Cybersafety Solutions answers these and many other questions around helping children and young people to navigate the online world safely. Susan is acknowledged as Australia’s foremost expert in the area of cyber safety and young people.

#35 – Understanding and embracing autism and neurodiversity in children and young people
In this podcast, KCV speaks with researcher, writer and educator Dr Emma Goodall, the inaugural Director of South Australia’s Office for Autism. Dr Goodall, who is the parent of an autistic adult, has worked extensively in the area of autism, education, research and public policy, and teacher training.

Dr Goodall defines autism and neurodiversity, explains how autism can present differently in different genders, and outlines key things carers need to understand about neurodivergence in order to better support the children and young people in their care. She also offers some approaches to help autistic and neurodiverse children develop the skills to self-regulate their feelings and emotions to help with everyday tasks and situations.

Kinship Carers Victoria is the peak body for kinship carers in in Victoria. KCV’s aim is to have kinship carers in Victoria supported in their role according to their needs and the needs of the children they care for.  KCV’s mission is to ensure that kinship care leads to positive outcomes for the children and young people raised in kinship care placements.