Our team completed the three-day training, which was informative, but we needed to figure out how to use it in our practice. We decided to link it to our fortnightly catch ups/supervision sessions and block out time to focus specifically on PARTH and our rangatahi, so that it didn’t feel like extra work. We chose to focus on one element each week and at the beginning of the week, I would send out the PARTH in practice newsletter. The team really focused on the rangatahi voice aspect, to understand how effective the element was for rangatahi. We would also choose a related theory and idea for the week, which gave us a deeper understanding. The team would reflect during the week and in our meetings we would discuss the element, the theories and their rangatahi. It was quite tricky in the beginning, but we got better at it as we went along.

I had come across the PARTH framework via Massey University and spoke with a colleague from another organisation who was using PARTH. Knowing that it was already in practice and used by an organisation that has good practice convinced us. We talked with Massey University and heard more about the research that had gone into it and so decided to learn more and see how we could use it in our team.

I noticed a big change from using the kete resources. Our team works intuitively like that anyway, but they were really starting to take notice of their practice and of some of the ideas. For example, discussing resilience brought up a different conversation on how they were seeing it in the youth and in themselves. It strengthened their empathy for the rangatahi and how much they had been through. It validated their practice as well. Our meetings generated great discussions where people brought new ideas and perspectives that others could connect to. An important part was the time that we put aside for PARTH. This gave us a specific focus on reflection and areas of practice you might not pick out on a regular basis.

Once we finished the structured process looking at all of the different elements and theories, the challenge has been thinking about using different resources, how we keep up momentum, and get new people up to speed. I think we will keep focusing on an element as part of our monthly sessions so that it is still a part of our structured reflection.

I would encourage other organisations to use PARTH and the kete resources as part of supervision sessions. Our team really liked the rangatahi voices, how PARTH practice impacted rangatahi and how they felt their kaimahi was working alongside them. I think it is also good to check the FAQs and connect with teams who have used PARTH before to find out how they are using it.

PARTH has been a really useful tool for our team in terms of reflection on practice and validating what they do intuitively. Having a chance to reflect on each element and how important it is was hugely beneficial for their practice.