Family foundations outcome evaluation

[Executive Summary] The ACT Community Services Directorate (CSD) commissioned the ACU Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of Family Foundations. CSD, a government agency responsible for various human services functions in the ACT, funds the Belconnen Community Service to deliver Family Foundations. Family Foundations is an early intervention therapeutic program designed to promote strong, secure and healthy relationships between children aged 0-5 years and their parents/carers. ICPS evaluators finalised the process evaluation in February 2018. It assessed the extent to which Family Foundations had been implemented as intended (see Barker, Thorpe and McArthur, 2018). The outcome evaluation assessed the extent to which Family Foundations achieved intended outcomes. It involved a mixed methods approach. This approach involved collecting, analysing and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data to address the key evaluation questions. The available evidence suggested that Family Foundations enhanced parenting capacity and contributed to improved outcomes for children. Changes in parenting capacity were evident in the test scores for quantitative outcome tools and the qualitative accounts of parents, practitioners and stakeholders. Test scores typically showed small, but statistically significant, improvements post-program participation. Parents, practitioners and stakeholders provided rich descriptions of how participating in Family Foundations had developed parenting knowledge and skills and improved parents’ sense of self-confidence in their ability to meet their child’s needs. Most parents noted an improved ability to recognise and manage their emotions when caring for their child. Parents and practitioners reported improvements in the emotional regulation and behavioural outcomes of their children. Parental participation in Family Foundations also appeared to have enhanced the quality of the parent-child attachment. ICPS evaluators identified an unintended consequence for one parent who had participated in the program. This parent exited Family Foundations with lasting feelings of distress. While unfortunate, this experience appeared to be a consequence of the practitioner acting in the interests of the child. Available evidence suggested that program staff adopted process to keep the focus on the child and supported parents to understand the importance of this focus even in the event it may cause the parent discomfort. A significant implication of the evaluation relates to whether Family Foundations reached the ‘right’ parents. Many parents entered Family Foundations with pre-program test scores that fell in the moderate band. While these families experienced improvements, the change was small. Yet, when the program engaged parent who demonstrated high need at the point of entry, the change in test scores post-program participation was more substantial than for parents with low to moderate parenting need. The important message here is that Family Foundations appeared to produce the most significant result for parents in greater need. ICPS evaluators recommend further reflection on whether BCS is appropriately set up to deliver ‘blended prevention’ (Prinz, 2015) – combining universal and targeted parenting supports in an integrated strategy

“Chains Weigh Heavy”: Body Mapping Embodied Experiences of Anxiety

Anxiety has both cognitive and somatic dimensions as is ubiquitous at a population level. We report on an arts-based research workshop gathering data on embodied experiences of anxiety and non-anxiety. We developed an innovative short body mapping workshop to collect data and undertook thematic analysis to analyse textual and visual data. 35 body maps were produced. “Tightness,” “pain,” and “heaviness” were the most frequently expressed embodied sensations of anxiety. By contrast, when not feeling anxious, participants’ bodies primarily felt “energetic,” “ordered,” and “open.” Anxiety was most frequently felt in the stomach, head and heart. 35 Participants mostly used an abstracted, rather than figurative, visual language to depict anxiety. Conclusions: Participants reported diverse bodily experiences of anxiety, some of which correlate with commonly identified somatic symptoms of anxiety. Other symptoms were unique to participants. The richness and diversity of anxiety experiences elicited during workshops indicates that the brief body mapping approach has potential application in future research, and in other settings

Digital Storytelling in Research: A Systematic Review

Digital storytelling refers to a 2 to 5 minute audio-visual clip combining photographs, voice-over narration, and other audio (Lambert, 2009) originally applied for community development, artistic and therapeutic purposes, and more recently adapted as an arts-based research method. To date, no systematic review of the use of digital storytelling in a research capacity, to generate information about a phenomenon has been conducted. Accordingly, our aim was to provide a systematic review of digital storytelling in research. The review identified 25 articles representing 23 discrete studies that met inclusion criteria. A thematic analysis of results indicated that digital storytelling in research was especially appropriate for use with marginalised groups, and was most commonly used in this context. There was some variation in the extent to which digital storytelling in research adhered to the principles with which it was originally developed. Surprisingly, although digital storytelling provides a ready-made knowledge translation product, few research projects employed the digital stories generated to this end. Across research projects, participants reported several benefits of digital storytelling. While some disadvantages were noted, overall, these were outweighed by the benefits of using a respectful, participatory research practice

Modos corporales de relatar el self: una revisión sistemática del mapeo corporal

Ganzkörper-Kartografien wurden für Forschungszwecke  erstmals in einem Projekt genutzt, in dem es um einen Vergleich von weiblicher Identität und Reproduktion zwischen ländlichen Regionen in Jamaika und in Großbritannien ging. Danach wurde dieser Ansatz im Rahmen eines in Südafrika durchgeführten Workshops weiterentwickelt mit dem Ziel, den Erfahrungen HIV-positiver Menschen zum Ausdruck zu verhelfen, der Stigmatisierung entgegenzuwirken und die Forderung nach der Bereitstellung anti-retroviraler Medikamente zu unterstützen.Bei einer Ganzkörper-Kartografie werden die Körperumrisse einer Person nachgezogen, um einen lebensgroßen Umriss zu generieren, der innerhalb eines kreativen und reflexiven Prozesses gefüllt wird, sodass ein Bild entsteht, das die multiplen Aspekte verkörperlichter Erfahrung repräsentieren soll. Es handelt sich bei Körper-Kartografien um eine qualitative, genauer im Bereich partizipativer Ansätze angesiedelte Methodik, deren Aufgabe es ist, Wissen zu generieren und zu distribuieren. Es bestehen aber nach wie vor Unsicherheiten, wie, von wem und in welchem Kontext die Methode zu nutzen ist.Deshalb präsentieren wir in diesem Beitrag eine systematische Bestandsaufnahme der verfügbaren Literatur. Es zeigt sich, dass sich Nutzungen von Kartografien insbesondere in Forschungs-, therapeutischen und erzieherischen Kontexten finden. Der Wert, der dabei z.B. auf soziale Gerechtigkeit, auf den Transfer von Wissen, auf Forschung und auf therapeutischen Nutzen gelegt wird, variiert tlw. erheblich, ebenso Intention und Durchführung des Verfahrens. Und obwohl der bisherige Stand recht vielversprechend ist, wären zusätzliche empirische Studien hilfreich, um die spezifischen Charakteristika von Körperkartografien im Rahmen wissenschaftlicher Forschung bzw. innerhalb klinischer, erzieherischer oder politischer Settings besser einschätzen zu können.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1602225The first recorded instance of whole-body-mapping for research purposes is a comparison of women's identity and the concept of the reproductive system in rural Jamaica and the UK. It was later developed in a structured workshop process in South Africa to give voice to the experiences of HIV positive individuals, decrease stigma, and advocate for provision of anti-retroviral medication. Whole-body mapping involves tracing around a person's body to create a life-sized outline, which is filled in during a creative and reflective process, producing an image representing multiple aspects of their embodied experience. Body-mapping holds promise as a qualitative, participatory research method to produce and disseminate knowledge. However, it is unclear how it is being used, by whom, and in what context. This article presents the findings of a systematic review of body-mapping in the published literature. The review identifies various implementations of body-mapping in research, therapeutic, and educational contexts. The degree of emphasis on social justice, knowledge translation, research, and therapeutic benefit varies a great deal, as does the intent and use of body-mapping. While body-mapping holds promise, more empirical investigation would be valuable in determining its characteristics in research, clinical, educative and political spheres.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1602225El primer caso registrado de mapeo corporal completo para fines de investigación es una comparación de la identidad femenina y el concepto del sistema reproductivo en zonas rurales de Jamaica y del Reino Unido. Más tarde, se desarrolló en un proceso de talleres estructurados en Sudáfrica para dar voz a las experiencias de los individuos VIH positivos, disminuir el estigma y abogar por el suministro de medicamentos antirretrovirales. El mapeo corporal completo implica trazar el contorno del cuerpo de una persona para crear un perfil de tamaño natural que se llena durante un proceso creativo y reflexivo, produciendo una imagen que representa múltiples aspectos de su experiencia corporal. El mapeo corporal constituye un promisorio método de investigación cualitativo y participativo para producir y difundir conocimiento. Sin embargo, no está claro cómo está siendo utilizado, por quiénes y en qué contexto. Este artículo presenta los resultados de una revisión sistemática de mapeo corporal en la literatura publicada. La revisión identifica diversas aplicaciones del mapeo corporal en contextos investigativos, terapéuticos y educativos. El grado de énfasis en justicia social, traducción del conocimiento, investigación y beneficio terapéutico varía mucho, al igual que la intención y el uso del mapeo corporal. Aunque el mapeo corporal constituye una promesa, sería valiosa más investigación empírica para determinar sus características en las esferas investigativas, clínicas, educativas y políticas.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs160222

Embodied Ways of Storying the Self: A Systematic Review of Body-Mapping

The first recorded instance of whole-body-mapping for research purposes is a comparison of women's identity and the concept of the reproductive system in rural Jamaica and the UK. It was later developed in a structured workshop process in South Africa to give voice to the experiences of HIV positive individuals, decrease stigma, and advocate for provision of anti-retroviral medication. Whole-body mapping involves tracing around a person's body to create a life-sized outline, which is filled in during a creative and reflective process, producing an image representing multiple aspects of their embodied experience. Body-mapping holds promise as a qualitative, participatory research method to produce and disseminate knowledge. However, it is unclear how it is being used, by whom, and in what context. This article presents the findings of a systematic review of body-mapping in the published literature. The review identifies various implementations of body-mapping in research, therapeutic, and educational contexts. The degree of emphasis on social justice, knowledge translation, research, and therapeutic benefit varies a great deal, as does the intent and use of body-mapping. While body-mapping holds promise, more empirical investigation would be valuable in determining its characteristics in research, clinical, educative and political spheres. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs160222

Mean-making and research rigour : approaches to the synthesis of multiple data sources in body mapping

Arts-based methods appeal to researchers because they offer the chance to gain unique insights about how people experience their worlds and novel ways to reflect on what they have seen and heard. The inherent diversity of methodologies and artistic activities involved in arts-based research is a well-recognised advantage (Rose, 2007). Body mapping is an arts-based method that is positioned at the intersection of research, community development, and art therapy. Arguably, to date, its relevance as a research tool has been seen as secondary to its power as a tool for advocacy and empowerment. Pioneers in body mapping research (Gastaldo et al., 2012) acknowledge that moving beyond description to a critical interpretation of body mapping data can be a challenge. As they have more recently argued in their critical synthesis of the literature, body mapping is pre-dominantly presented as a data generation method (Gastaldo et al., 2018). This edited collection represents an effort to address these criticisms and responds to the call for more empirically grounded work to progress the body mapping research field (de Jager et al., 2016). In this chapter, we consider how to approach research data available from body mapping to produce reliable and compelling results

Developmental changes in the control of saccadic eye movements in response to directional eye gaze and arrows

We investigated developmental differences in oculomotor control between 10-year-old children and adults using a central interference task. In this task, the colour of a fixation point instructed participants to saccade either to the left or to the right. These saccade directions were either congruent or incongruent with two types of distractor cue: either the direction of eye gaze of a centrally presented schematic face, or the direction of arrows. Children had greater difficulties inhibiting the distractor cues than did adults, which revealed itself in longer saccade latencies for saccades that were incongruent with the distractor cues as well as more errors on these incongruent trials than on congruent trials. Counter to our prediction, in terms of saccade latencies, both children and adults had greater difficulties inhibiting the arrow than the eye gaze distractors

A Novel Landscape for Understanding Physical and Mental Health: Body Mapping Research with Youth Experiencing Psychosis

Estimates indicate the lifespan of individuals with psychotic illness is reduced by approximately 15-20 years. Consequently there is a need to address the physical health of those who live with a mental illness, like psychosis. The Bondi Centre provides an integrated model of care to young people with a first episode of psychosis. The Keeping the Body In Mind program focuses on prevention and early intervention of physical health issues and is offered alongside treatment for mental health and social issues as part of routine care. We used body mapping, an arts-based research method, to explore the complexity of this physical health intervention. Our aim was to develop an in-depth understanding of experiences of young clients of the early intervention centre, with a particular focus on the embodied relationship between physical and mental health. Six young people engaged in creating life-sized body maps depicting their experience of the physical intervention program over four 3-hour sessions, followed by an in-depth interview. Analysis of our body maps drew on thematic analysis and narrative inquiry. The narrative trope was one of recovery, highlighting the importance of the link between body and mind, individual and community, and the balance between light and darkness. There was an emphasis on developing feelings of connectedness (to self and others), hope and optimism for the future, a sense of having an identity, and a sense of meaning and empowerment. Recovery was conceptualised as an ongoing process rather than an end product or fixed state. Involvement in the body mapping process was consistently identified as therapeutic, offering an opportunity for reflection on the journey to recovery with a focus on past, present and imagined storylines of the future