Volunteer support for mothers with new babies: perceptions of need and support received

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 55 mothers of infants. Some had received Home-Start during their infant’s first year, others were offered the support but declined and the remainder were not offered Home-Start. Most of their support had come from informal sources, such as family and friends with less from professionals. Mothers who received Home-Start described beneficial aspects, in particular, the extent of practical support provided, preferable to calling on close relatives or friends. Difficulties related to volunteer characteristics and administrative problems. Overall volunteer support can be important to complement informal and formal support, but needs careful management

The need for support: Young people living through a family health crisis

Young people living with a family health crisis are found to experience high levels of distress, anxiety, low mood and depressive symptoms and are at risk of becoming disengaged with education, socially isolated and uncertain regarding what the future will hold for them. A body of research indicates that practical intervention, including youth work, engagement with other young people and targeted support can have a significant impact upon a young person’s capacity to cope with a complex family health crisis and develop self-reliant behaviours. Despite the plethora of evidence to indicate the need for systems of support for children and young people experiencing a family health crisis, current provision across the UK is inconsistent, inequitable and not clearly underpinned by policy intervention. This study sets out to indicate the extent and nature of need of children and young people who are living with a family health crisis in Britain, the type of support they require and the ways in which Hope Support meets those needs

Support Foster Care: developing a short-break service for children in need

Under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, local authorities can provide short breaks for children with foster or other families. The majority of such placements are used to support the families of disabled children, but they may also be used in other circumstances. Support foster care schemes aim to work with families who are experiencing difficulties or stress by providing short breaks for children and support for parents. Such schemes have been slow to develop, and the Department of Health commissioned the Thomas Coram Research Unit to carry out a small-scale study to find out more about the barriers, legal and otherwise, that might be deterring local authorities from establishing support care schemes, and how such barriers might be overcome. This report summarises the findings

Sportswear Workers in the Dominican Republic Need Your Support

The Clean Clothes Campaign calls attention to the closing of the BJ&B factory in the Dominican Republic and asks that the public takes action by contacting Nike, adidas, and the Yupoong management

Technical Assistance Matters: Schools Need Support to Become Healthier

Outlines findings from assessments of the Healthy Schools Program's progress in helping schools implement policies and programs that promote healthy eating and physical activity from 2006 to 2010. Highlights the need for training and technical assistance

Applications of ISES for the oceans

The need in oceanography for direct broadcast, why, and what type are discussed. Four reasons for support exist: need for real-time observations in support of field studies; need to back up point failures; need for experimentation with onboard processing and selection of data for direct broadcasting; and the need to develop future operational NOAA systems. Each of these areas is examined