Supporting Parenting

Governments are showing more and more interest in providing services to parents to help them fulfil their parenting roles. But what does "good" parenting mean? How can policies to support parents best be adapted to local culture? What is the most appropriate way to critically evaluate these policies? This edition of Early Childhood in Focus addresses these questions by looking at examples of parenting support programmes from the UK, USA, Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia, and identifies practical questions for policy makers, advocates and practitioners to consider

Shared Care, Elder and Family Member Skills Used to Manage Burden

Aim. The aim of this paper is to further develop the construct of Shared Care by comparing and contrasting it to related research, and to show how the construct can be used to guide research and practice. Background. While researchers have identified negative outcomes for family caregivers caused by providing care, less is known about positive aspects of family care for both members of a family dyad. Understanding family care relationships is important to nurses because family participation in the care of chronically ill elders is necessary to achieve optimal outcomes from nursing interventions. A previous naturalistic inquiry identified a new construct, Shared Care, which was used to describe a family care interaction that contributed to positive care outcomes. Methods. A literature review was carried out using the databases Medline, CINAHL, and Psych-info and the keywords home care, care receiver, disability, family, communication, decision-making and reciprocity. The results of the review were integrated to suggest how Shared Care could be used to study care difficulties and guide interventions. Results. The literature confirmed the importance of dyad relationships in family care. Shared Care extended previous conceptualizations of family care by capturing three critical components: communication, decision-making, and reciprocity. Shared Care provides a structure to expand the conceptualization of family care to include both members of a care dyad and account for positive and negative aspects of care. Conclusions. The extended view provided by the construct of Shared Care offers practitioners and scholars tools to use in the context of our ageing population to improve the effectiveness of family care relationships

Bi-Directions Impacts of Economic, Social and Environmental Changes and the New Zealand Housing Market

This report was prepared for the Centre for Housing Research Aotearoa New Zealand (CHRANZ). The aim of this study is to identify a set of housing research projects addressing two related topics. First, the impact of economic, social and environmental changes on housing in New Zealand's non-metropolitan regions; and second, the economic, social and environmental impacts of the New Zealand housing market. Identification of these projects is designed to help CHRANZ in developing and prioritising its research agenda pertaining to policy-relevant housing research within New Zealand. By doing so, we aim to outline coherent programmes of research that develop a comprehensive body of knowledge about the housing sector and its interactions with other key elements of society. The study suggests a set of research questions leading to coherent programmes of research, rather than to answer the research questions. We concentrate on posing questions that are of policy concern. Some are matters of current official policy concern. Others relate to issues that non-official sources consider should be of policy concern or which we judge may become of official concern in future years. Thus our analysis is informed by current policy priorities, but seeks to take a strategic look also at forthcoming priorities that may emerge over the next five years.Housing markets, Housing policy

How Are Our Kids?: Children and Families in Tallaght West, Co. Dublin

'How are our kids?' It's a simple and straightforward question - one that any parent in Ireland will occasionally ask. In the case of Tallaght West this question is particularly urgent. The research presented in this document shows that the majority of children in Tallaght West are carrying a disproportionate burden of the inequality and poverty whichexists in Irish society as a whole - at least one in three children in this area is likely to beliving in poverty. Before the parents and guardians of these children can answer 'our kids are doing well' change is required and that change must be lasting.This research is part of the Childhood Development Initiative in Tallaght West. We are asking 'how are our kids?' because we know that, on various levels, many are not doing well and we are determined to do something about it. We want to know how these children and families are coping in the midst of challenging circumstances. We want to know exactly what conditions exist that support their developmental capacities, so that these can be built upon. We want to obtain a better understanding of what their actual needs are so that we can advocate for, and put in place, services that meet those needs

Understanding child neglect

Child neglect is one of the most common forms of maltreatment. Neglect is a topic that encompasses complex issues, many of which are also emerging research areas. This paper aims to provide a broad overview of these issues in relation to current thinking and to generate discussion points for practitioners, policy makers and researchers. Key messages: Poverty and child neglect are closely linked but not all children from poor families are neglected and children from more affluent families can be neglected. Neglect is often portrayed as the “fault” of mothers, while failing to take into account the role of neglectful fathers. The gendered nature of “neglectful parenting” may be, in part, explained by links between single mothers and poverty. A tertiary child protection response may not be the best way to respond to children who are being neglected—neglectful families are complex and have high needs so require multiple levels of support and resourcing. The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children aims to address these issues through the use of a public health model. For many neglected children, access to resources and education to support families would minimise the effects of neglect—keeping them out of the statutory child protection system. There is no quick, easy, “one size fits all” response to child neglect—the response must be based on careful assessment of needs and take into account the diverse nature of neglect and the compounding impact of multiple and complex needs. Where it is necessary to provide a child protection response to neglect, an effective response is likely to be long term, resource intensive, and complex