Support Services and Peer Support for Parents of At-Risk Infants: An International Perspective

An international survey was done on support services and peer self-help for families with infants in neonatal intensive care. In the survey, there were 19 respondents from 11 countries. Comparisons were made between this survey and 2 done in the United States. The number of support services provided for each hospital was not related to economic indicators. Parents' involvement in infant care was higher in countries with lower gross national product and higher infant mortality rate. Hospitals having a self-help organization indicated higher parental involvement in care. Hospitals with parent-professional collaboration had more support services, self-help activities, and stability and longevity of groups. The survey pointed to a widespread effort to provide support services that appeared to cross geographic and economic boundaries.     

Drug Education: Supporting Parents to Support Children

Such research evidence as exists on effective drug strategies in prevention and education draws attention to the importance of involving parents along with other community agencies and school governors. Much depends nevertheless on the way in which 'involvement' is interpreted and the assumptions that are made about parents' knowledge of drugs and drug education as well as their attitudes to drug issues. As the age of initial experimentation and contact with drugs continues to fall, the importance of enskilling parents to support drug education programmes for 5 year olds and upwards continues to rise. This paper reports the first wide ranging survey of parents' knowledge of drugs and drug issues across an entire English county embracing younger as well as older children. The need for more coordinated, informed and systematic guidance to parents is established.     

Social Support among Parents of Children with Congenital Heart Disease,Parents of Children with Other Diseases and Parents of Healthy Children

The study reported here compared social support experiences among parents of children born with congenital heart disease PCCHD (n=1?092), parents of children with other diseases PCOD (n=112), and parents of healthy children PHC (n=293). In addition, factors related to social support among the parents were identified. The parents completed a questionnaire about such areas as availability of social support, financial strain, and psychological distress. The design was cross-sectional and data were collected over 20 consecutive days. The univariate analysis indicated that availability of social attachment was low among all parents and moderate concerning interaction/integration, with no significant differences between PCCHD, PCOD, and PHC. In addition, the univariate analysis indicated that mothers within all parent groups had lower availability of social support than fathers, with the lowest availability among mothers of children with CHD. The multivariate analysis indicated, however, that extra time devoted to care giving, financial instability (e.g. unemployment and financial burden of children's diseases), psychological distress, and hopelessness accounted for the variation in availability of social support more than gender, children's diseases, and their severity. The study corroborated previous findings and may have provided new insights into factors that may be associated with social support experiences among PCCHD. Implications for interventions are discussed.     

How Parents Support Home Literacy with Deaf Children

Six case studies of young deaf children from deaf and hearing families are presented. A model home literacy program at the Indiana School for the Deaf is described. Case studies and the home literacy program describe activities which link sign language and finger spelling to early reading and writing at home. Activities include the daily reading of whole storybooks, explaining environmental print, labeling drawings with letters and words, writing lists and notes to family members and playing and experimenting with writing.     

Examining Social Support Among Adult Children of Incarcerated Parents

Parental incarceration is related to many challenges and risks, yet we know little about resilience among this population. This study examined how social support contributed to the resilience of a sample of adult children of incarcerated parents. In‐depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 32 college students who had experienced parental incarceration during their childhoods. Social support from caring adults, including caregivers, incarcerated parents, grandparents, older siblings, teachers, and coaches helped facilitate success in light of parental criminality and incarceration. In particular, these adults promoted resilience in 3 ways: (a) providing access to conventional activities, (b) supporting a vision of a better life, and (c) encouraging turning points. Implications for those who work with children of incarcerated parents are discussed.     

Support Group for Parents Coping with Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Objectives

Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood. Active parental involvement, parental support in the diabetes management and family functioning are associated with optimal diabetes management and glycemic control. The purpose of this study was to assess parental satisfaction with participation in the group and their perceptions of the impact of the intervention on living and coping with childrens T1D.

Methods

A sample of 34 parents of children with T1D participated in this trend study. The participants’ experience and satisfaction with support group was measured by a self- evaluation questionnaire, designed for the purpose of the present study.

Results

Quantitative data show that parents were overall satisfied with almost all measured items of the evaluation questionnaire (wellbeing in the group, feeling secure, experiencing new things, being able to talk and feeling being heard) during the 4-year period. However, parents from the second and third season, on average, found that the support group has better fulfilled their expectations than the parents from the first season (p = 0,010). The qualitative analysis of the participants’ responses to the open-ended questions was underpinned by four themes: support when confronting the diagnosis, transformation of the family dynamics, me as a parent, exchange of experience and good practice and facing the world outside the family.

Discussion

The presented parent support group showed to be a promising supportive, therapeutic and psychoeducative space where parents could strengthen their role in the upbringing of their child with T1D.     

Strengthening Incarcerated Families: Evaluating a Pilot Program for Children of Incarcerated Parents and Their Caregivers

Parental incarceration can be devastating for families. Children may experience difficulties, and the stress on caregivers who take on unexpected childrearing is high. The authors implemented and evaluated a family‐level intervention with caregivers and children experiencing parental (typically maternal) incarceration in a community setting. The authors partnered with a community‐based organization serving families with an incarcerated parent to conduct a pilot trial of the Strengthening Families Program (SFP). Process evaluation indicated high implementation fidelity, satisfaction, engagement, and attendance. Outcome evaluation results indicated positive changes in family‐level functioning, caregivers' positive parenting, and caregiver depression symptoms from pre‐ to postintervention, with some changes retained at follow‐up 4 months later. Implications for preventive interventions with children of incarcerated parents and their caregivers, are discussed.     

Children with special needs--2: The Early Support Pilot Programme

In the second of two articles, a health visitor for special needs children explains the Early Support Pilot Programme, a Government initiative to improve assessment and support for children under three years with complex health needs. The programme puts the child and family at the centre. It emphasises partnership between the professionals and the family, with joint assessments and professionals working together to provide co-ordinated planning and care--the "team around the family" approach. The author describes a local experience of the programme in an area chosen as a pilot site.     

Online Peer Support and Well-being of Mothers and Children: Systematic Scoping Review

BackgroundOnline peer support groups are common and can be an effective tool for mothers with young children. The purpose of this review is to examine the types of support that online-based peer groups establish, as well as its health effects on mothers and their children.MethodsSystematic scoping review. Systematic review of existing literature was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane and Ichushi (Japanese language) database in December 2019.ResultsBased on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 1,475 articles were extracted by initial search. After the review of titles, abstracts and full texts, a total of 21 articles met the inclusion criteria. The types of support mothers received were mainly informational and emotional support. Mothers also felt a sense of connection and community. Some health effects of online-based peer support group were seen in the area of mothers’ mental well-being. Minimal effects were seen in behavioral modification for child nutrition and breastfeeding.ConclusionDue to the limited evidence in interventional studies, the effects of online-based peer support groups were inconclusive. Further studies with rigorous research designs would be helpful in future research.Key words: peer support, online, social networking sites, mother     

The Use of Support Groups by Parents of Children with Dyslexia

This paper describes an interview-based study that identified the principal reasons for attending support groups by parents of dyslexic children. Parents could be classified on the basis of the interview responses. One group were information seekers and attended support groups for the purpose of education and research about the learning difficulties of their child. These parents' integrated advice and information obtained through the meetings into their home lives in order to offer educational and emotional support to their children. A second group of parents attended support groups on the basis of a professional recommendation only. A third group of parents attended group meetings for the purpose of emotional support. The informationseeking parents reported greater satisfaction with their experience of attending support groups compared with other parents. Recommendations for further research are made on the basis of this study.     

The Use of Support Groups by Parents of Children with Dyslexia

This paper describes an interview-based study that identified the principal reasons for attending support groups by parents of dyslexic children. Parents could be classified on the basis of the interview responses. One group were information seekers and attended support groups for the purpose of education and research about the learning difficulties of their child. These parents' integrated advice and information obtained through the meetings into their home lives in order to offer educational and emotional support to their children. A second group of parents attended support groups on the basis of a professional recommendation only. A third group of parents attended group meetings for the purpose of emotional support. The informationseeking parents reported greater satisfaction with their experience of attending support groups compared with other parents. Recommendations for further research are made on the basis of this study.     

Perceptions of Social Support by Parents of Chronically Ill Versus Healthy Children

Based on a sample of 148 married adults, the present study found that parents of chronically ill children perceive a lesser amount of social support than do adults who parent children without illnesses Fathers of children with illnesses were least likely to perceive social supports in their environment Type of illness was also found to be a significant factor with parents of diabetic children perceiving the lowest levels of support The implications of the study are discussed in terms of clinical practice with families and future research into the role that the social perception of the seriousness of illness may play in eliciting aid from the supportive network.