Healthy Mothers Healthy Families - Belongside Families

A woman with long dark hair sits in a chair, holding a mug in one hand and reading a book with the other. She wears a yellow shirt and light pants, with a decorative pillow behind her and a wooden table in front.

Do you wish you had more time for your own wellbeing?

When you’re focused on supporting your child, it’s easy to put your own wellbeing on hold. But caring for yourself is an important part of caring for your family too.

Healthy Mothers Healthy Families (HMHF) is a free, evidence-based health education and empowerment program for mothers of children with disability. Developed by Professor Helen Bourke-Taylor from Monash University, HMHF supports you to create a healthy lifestyle that fosters your own health and wellbeing, alongside a healthy, happy family life.

Join a HMHF group

What you’ll learn

The importance of your health and wellbeing as a mother and carer.
Practical strategies to reduce stress and support mental health.
Building healthy routines that work for you and your family.
Ways to strengthen supportive relationships and networks.
Tools for finding balance between caring and self-care.

How the program works

Delivered across three, 2-hour sessions over six weeks.
Facilitated by trained parent facilitators with lived experience.
Practical, engaging and research-informed content.
No diagnosis or referral required to participate.
Free to attend and facilitated online via Zoom.

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Program Impact

A recent collaborative research project with Professor Bourke-Taylor produced internationally published evidence demonstrating the significant benefits and positive impact of the Belongside Families-facilitated online HMHF workshops:

95% of mothers reported an increase in health-promoting activities such as eating well, exercising, and socializing.
98% of mothers reported improvements in their personal wellbeing.
92% reported depression symptoms within average limits after the workshop.

These findings highlight the program’s effectiveness in supporting mothers to create healthier lifestyles for themselves and their families.

You can read the full research paper in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

What parents are saying

A woman in a bright pink sweater paints a colorful abstract floral design on a canvas at an art studio, with painting supplies and a bottle on the table beside her.

My biggest takeaway from completing Healthy Mothers is learning not to feel selfish when carving out time for myself. I’ve really gotten into art and painting, and I’ve established a routine where I do this every night, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. It helps me process my day.

HMHF Participant

A woman smiles warmly while holding a child who rests their head on her shoulder. They are outdoors with autumn-colored leaves in the background.

Healthy Mothers Healthy Families solidified the notion that in order for me to continue caring for my family, for them to continue getting the best version of me, I needed to take the time to spend on myself.

HMHF Participant

A woman in a light brown hijab and a young girl in a red shirt smile while sitting together on a bus, with blue sky visible through the window behind them.

What stuck with me was the new found awareness of myself. I now take moments in my week to check in with myself. If I notice I’m not coping, I make time. Even just 5 or 10 minutes. I highly recommend this program!

HMHF Participant

Healthy Mothers Healthy Families* is an evidence-based online health education and empowerment program for mothers of children with disability. The program was developed by and is proprietary to Prof Helen Bourke-Taylor from Monash University. Visit https://healthymothers-healthyfamilies.com/. (*) all names brands licensed by Monash University.