Help Forms and LLLChat
Susan Bantz-Gustafson
East Moline, Illinois, USA
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 33 No. 5, August-September 1997, p. 83
We're all familiar with the
challenges of helping breastfeeding mothers by telephone -- listening
and understanding without the help of body language, using Human Relations
Enrichment (HRE) communication skills when we respond, discerning problems
without seeing mother and baby nursing. Today, Leaders who help mothers
using the Internet and email are faced with the same challenge -- and
a few new ones!
Currently LLL offers two
kinds of mother-to-mother online help: Help Forms and LLLChat. Available
through the LLLI Web site, both of these services are increasing in
popularity.
Help Forms
LLLI Help Forms can be accessed
by anyone browsing the LLLI Web site. The forms ask for the same information
Leaders document in their logs with additional space for a mother to
add her email address and type her question. When a Help Form is filled
out, it is sent to the Web site list manager who distributes it to a
volunteer Leader. An online Leader can answer as many Help Forms as
she is comfortable accepting, usually about one every two to three weeks.
She has one week to respond, although she can certainly reply sooner.
One of the nice things about
answering Help Form questions is that a Leader has a chance to review
her resources and respond at a convenient time, instead of trying to
talk to a distraught mother while her children need attention or dinner
burns in the oven! She has time to check the BREASTFEEDING ANSWER BOOK
and consult with a co-Leader, District Advisor or Professional Liaison
Leader if necessary.
Leaders outside the US are
especially needed. Help Forms are filled out by mothers all over the
world and LLLI prefers to route them to Leaders in a mother's own country
so she will be familiar with the mother's cultural background.
LLLChat
LLLChat hosts live chats,
like Series Meetings in cyberspace, over the Internet. Like live meetings,
the chats take place at a specified time. The Leaders log on, as do
those who wish to "attend," and questions, answers and conversation
are exchanged, although slowed a bit by the need for typing. Usually
LLLI tries to provide at least two Leaders for each chat, so that if
a sensitive question or situation arises, one Leader can go to a private
area on the Web to speak with the individual while the other continues
the chat.
Helping mothers online through
Help Forms and LLLChat are exciting ways to spread information about
breastfeeding and LLL. Both use the same knowledge and skills a Leader
already uses to lead meetings and answer phone-helping calls.
For more information or to
volunteer to help mothers online, contact us.
[Note: This
information was revised on December 4, 2001 and again on October 3, 2006]
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:21 UTC 2007.
