Families thrive with Now & Next

The Now & Next program is robust and evidence-based. Our research analysis and an external evaluation shows that the program works and children achieve positive outcomes.

We all want our children to thrive, and you make the biggest difference as parents and carers. By building on our children’s strengths, we can help them to lead a good life. Now & Next is an award-winning program that makes that happen.

Launched in 2015

Now & Next is an award-winning online program for parents and carers to achieve positive learning and relationship outcomes for their child and the entire family. Starting in 2015 in New South Wales, it was launched in New Zealand, Finland, Canada, Singapore and Albania.

Demand from the parents who graduated inspired us to create a program for youth. Scroll down or click here to read about Now & Next Youth.

Lasting positive change for your child and family

Now & Next is facilitated by trained parent peer workers with lived experience in raising a child with a disability or developmental delay. By learning through shared experience and connecting with other families, the program complements the therapists and professionals you work with, to deliver great outcomes.

Now & Next starts with a Pictability session for parents and carers to design their inspiring vision and work on their goals.

Over eight online or face to face sessions, you will learn how to:

Achieve more positive outcomes with less effort
Create a vision, and build on your child and family’s strengths to make a big impact
Increase family well-being and resilience
Use strategies that have worked for other families
Work better with professionals and other supports to achieve your goals
Spend your disability funding wisely

What families say about Now & Next

Now & Next has changed the way I view and interact with my son and my husband. I feel like we now have a bit more structure, and I have the hold to tackle issues I felt overwhelmed by before. It has also reminded me that it’s okay to be ‘selfish’ sometimes. My mum always says, “You can’t pour out of an empty cup”, and I think it finally makes sense to me. Mother
I have been working with these guys for years now! With lots of hard work and timely communication, they made sure they delivered the best to me. Highly recommended!Now & Next has given me a very clear template to look at what’s working/not working – how to change plans – how to set and achieve goals. It all makes sense in my head now with a clear path. Mother
I have been working with these guys for years now! With lots of hard work and timely communication, they made sure they delivered the best to me. Highly recommended!Now & Next has given me a very clear template to look at what’s working/not working – how to change plans – how to set and achieve goals. It all makes sense in my head now with a clear path. Father

Now & Next research

Our research team

Our research reports

Our publication list

Get in touch Want to talk to a parent peer worker about the program or have any other questions?

In Australia click here. Anywhere else contact Dr. Annick Janson

Now & Next Quest for
Disabled Youth and Adults

Now & Next Quest is a Youth and Adult Leadership Development evidence-based program, which activates choice and control by improving positive learning and life outcomes.

The Quest starts with a visioning session co-designed with participants to activate self determination, uncover their strengths and test their emerging capacities through planning. The program spans across a flexible number of sessions for 12 hours and follow up to evaluate goals achieved.

Now & Next Youth starts with a Pictability session.

Now & Next coaches participants to:

Identify their unique strengths and how they come into play in their lives
Co-design their planning to formulate a personal vision that inspires them
Develop their vision into goals
Embed their strengths into working on their goals - harness different strengths for different goals.
Unpack goals into smaller achievable steps to build their confidence in goal setting and goal achieving
Grow their voice to enable them to make positive choices in planning their future
Nurture their inner leader through contributing meaningfully to their communities.

Meet Raquel

Raquel participated in the fall 2023 program.

Raquel's Signature Strengths Backpack

These are Raquel's self-identified Signature Strengths

What will participants learn?

Participants will:

Develop knowledge and experience about the visioning and planning process and its connection to wellbeing. This goal-setting activity is person-centred. Its output is an inspirational vision board filled with goals organised according to the Keys 2 Citizenship (Duffy, 2012). Participants prioritise one long-term goal for each category and learn to implement strategies to achieve them.
Unpack their goals from long to short-term, experiment with achieving them by taking small achievable steps by utilising the bespoke ‘Goal 2 Action’ tool thereby, building capacity for participants to take control of their own progress. This process is described in depth in a number of publications (Mahmic and Janson, 2018; Moore, Fong and Rushton, 2018).

Participants record goals and goal achievements over a follow up session using ’Mission Control’, a purpose-built real time data collection tool.

The programme can also include coaching a support worker or family member to work with the person to continue planning and achieving goals after the programme is completed.

For more information on Now & Next Youth, please click here or contact Dr. Annick Janson: annick@egl.ac.nz

Now and Next has won awards... click here to read about them.

Impact studies

Global Benchmarking Results

Our list of publications

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