Bloom Global PET: Year II results summarised
news
30 June 2024
Launched in 2022, the Global PET project, a joint initiative between Naked Heart Foundation, The University of Cape Town and The University of Edinburgh, has now completed its second year of development.
Following the in-person project team meeting at Stellenbosch, South Africa in November 2023, the new Parent Education and Training Programme (PET) in autism spectrum disorder received a new name Bloom Autism Support Programme For Families. Once the name was approved by all stakeholders, the project team started developing and designing the content and illustrations of the Bloom sessions workbooks based on the consensus discussions from the Design and Development Group.
In May 2024, the programme abstract was accepted for a poster presentation at INSAR, the premier international autism conference. The event, held in Melbourne, Australia, was attended by 1,264 participants from more than 20 countries. It was the first time that Naked Heart Foundation experts had participated in an international professional forum to present their own research project.
Around the same time, the Global PET project was also presented as part of a symposium on innovative approaches to family-based interventions around the world at the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The goal, purpose and philosophy of the project remain fundamental to addressing the global need for evidence-informed support and empowerment programmes for families of autistic children. We have made tremendous progress to develop and design a programme that is unique and family-focused in many ways. The programme that we have conceptualized as a team over the two years is a culmination of expertise and experiences from the many people involved and invested in this project and we look forward to a successful conclusion of the project in the next year.
Professor Petrus J de Vries, Centre for Autism Research in Africa, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa commented on Year II results
The main focus for the programme developments in Year 3 will be:
- Completion of the Bloom Family Support Programme Workbooks
- Feasibility testing of the programme in two geographical areas
In addition, the project team will aim to prepare manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals on the project to date. They will also aim to prepare one or more abstracts for submission to INSAR 2025 which will take place in Seattle, USA next year.
To learn more about Global PET, see our recent news updates below.