Help-giving Practices Research Articles

"That makes all the difference": Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health-seeking on social media.

Little is known about the complex relationships between Australian Indigenous people's use of social media and "health-seeking" - seeking help for issues related to health and well-being. This paper has emerged from a broader sociological research project focusing on the help-seeking and help-giving practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on social media, specifically aiming to unlock its potential to create vital and creative connections between help-seekers and help-givers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 52 Indigenous Facebook users from five sites across Australia. The use of grounded theory and Indigenous-centred methodologies for analysis showed clearly that users draw on the connections made possible through Facebook to health-seek. We identify five primary health-seeking strategies that differ in form, purpose and directness: soliciting health-related information, gaining emotional support, producing social health-seeking collectives, engaging in motivational and "eudaimonic" content, and connecting with formal health sources. While far from being a panacea to health disparities, these findings show that Facebook does provide unique opportunities for many Indigenous help-seekers and help-givers in times of need. SO WHAT?: Social media offers pathways for health-seeking both beyond and outside the dominant western biomedical models of public health promotion. These already-existing pathways should be considered by people working on social media public health promotion campaigns for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Relation Between Family Quality of Life and the Family‐Centered Approach in Families With Children With an Intellectual Disability

AbstractAlthough family quality of life (FQOL) and the family‐centered approach (FCA) are often conceptually linked, empirical research on their relation is scarce. This study investigated the relation between the FCA and FQOL in families with a child (0–18 years) with an intellectual disability receiving home‐based support (HBS) in Flanders. The impact of the parental work situation and the child's support needs on FQOL (domains) were studied too. Through the Helpgiving Practices Scale (HPS) and the Enabling Practices Scale (EPS), parents of participating families (n = 58) reported about the FCA in their families' HBS. Using the Beach Center FQOL Scale, mainly mothers reported about their families' quality of life. The relation between the realization of the FCA, parental employment, and the child's support needs on the one hand, and FQOL on the other hand was studied via multiple regression analyses. Additionally, the best predicting model was determined for FQOL (domains). Globally, a positive relation between FQOL and the FCA was found. Dependent on the FQOL domain, a different relation was identified with the family‐centered components. Components of the EPS (i.e., comfort and parental autonomy) were better predictors than those of the HPS. The parental work situation was a significant predictor for satisfaction regarding total FQOL (with and without disability‐related support), family interactions, and parenting. The child's support needs were a significant predictor for emotional well‐being. As the first of its kind, this study investigated the relation between FQOL and the FCA in detail. More, in depth, and especially long‐term research is, however needed to fully understand the relation between FQOL and its contributors.

Envolvimento participativo de famílias no processo de apoio em Intervenção Precoce na Infância<br>Participatory involvement in Early Childhood Intervention

Data de Submissao: 12-10-2017 Data de Aceitacao: 22-12-2017 A influencia que a familia exerce sobre o desenvolvimento da crianca conduz a importância da adocao de praticas que promovam o envolvimento participativo da familia. Dai a dimensao participativa, caracterizadora de inclusao, se relevar como componente diferenciadora no processo de apoio em Intervencao Precoce na Infância. Assim, este estudo exploratorio utilizou o triângulo das praticas de ajuda eficaz, com enfoque no vetor envolvimento participativo, como quadro teorico, para obter uma melhor compreensao acerca as oportunidades proporcionadas a participacao das familias apoiadas; e as suas expectativas quanto as praticas participativas. Encontramos evidencias congruentes com os principios da abordagem centrada na familia, emergindo passiveis implicacoes, essencialmente, sobre redes de suporte. The child’s development process occurs in the context of her/his involvement in meaningful relationships with reference persons - those who, by responding in a contingent, regular and consistent manner to the child's basic needs, become special, unique to her/him; in most cases, they’re the child's family, and their involvement and participation in the Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) process is an essential component for its success, and a key in the path towards the child’s educational and social inclusion. This exploratory study, based on the framework of the “ECI effective help-giving practices” advocated in the literature, aims to obtain a better understanding of (i) families’ perception about the opportunities they are offered to participate in the process of supporting their children, and (ii) about their expectations regarding the professional practices providing this participation. The generated data indicate that the inquired families (represented by three mothers) experience a family centred approach that they recognize as a way for the social and educational inclusion of their children, and stress the importance of identifying support networks - formal and informal - in their lives and their children’s. Keywords: Early Childhood Intervention; Help-giving practices; Family centred practices; Participatory involvement; Social and Educational Inclusion

Influences of Family-Systems Intervention Practices on Parent-Child Interactions and Child Development

The extent to which the influences of family-systems intervention practices could be traced to variations in parent—child interactions and child development was investigated by meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM). MASEM is a procedure for producing a weighted pooled correlation matrix and fitting a structural equation model to the patterns of relationships in the data. The main practices constituting the focus of analysis were capacity-building help-giving practices, social supports and resources, family needs (concerns and priorities), and family strengths. Eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. The participants were 910 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with and without developmental delays or disabilities and their parents or other primary caregivers involved in different kinds of help-giving programs. Results showed that capacity-building help-giving and family-systems intervention practices had direct effects on both parent self-efficacy beliefs and well-being and indirect effects on parent—child interactions and child development mediated by self-efficacy beliefs and parent well-being. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

Modeling Parents and Nurses' Relationships

Over the past 20 years, the transition to parenting has been widely investigated as much in nursing as in psychology. The challenges of this developmental period, such as developing parenting efficacy, and the resources available to one or both parents have been explored. Different factors have been found to influence parents' perceived efficacy, such as the quality of social support, the quality of the marital relationship, and the level of stress and anxiety. Little attention has been paid, however, to the influence of nurses' relationships with parents on parents' development of parenting efficacy, especially with multiparous parents. This information is needed to better understand nurses' contribution to parenting development. A model of the primary variables of interest -- perceived parenting efficacy, critical events, and nurses' collaborative and help-giving practices -- is presented.

A Review of Processes and Outcomes in Family-Centered Services for Children With a Disability

The importance of being family centered when providing services to children with a disability and their families has gained currency in the research and practice literature. A growing body of evidence has validated many of the theoretical links between the help-giving practices of staff and desirable outcomes for families with a child with a disability. However, it is clear from the research to date that the relationship between the provision of family-centered services and the achievement of positive outcomes for children and their parents is complex and is yet to be fully understood. The present article reviews the research in this area and discusses the links between help-giving practices and child and family outcomes for families who have a member with a disability. The article summarizes the extant research in an accessible format and identifies areas for future research.

Family Empowerment as a Mediator between Family-Centered Systems of Care and Changes in Child Functioning: Identifying an Important Mechanism of Change

We investigated the associations among perceived fidelity to family-centered systems of care, family empowerment, and improvements in children's problem behaviors. Participants included 79 families, interviewed at two time points across a one-year period. Paired samples t-tests indicated that problem behaviors decreased significantly across a one-year period. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that both fidelity to family-centered systems of care and family empowerment independently predicted positive change in children's problem behavior over a one-year period. However, when family empowerment is entered first in the regression, the relationship between fidelity to family-centered systems of care and change in children's problem behavior drops out, indicating that family empowerment mediates the relationship between family-centered care and positive changes in problem behaviors. Consistent with other literature on help-giving practices, family empowerment appears to be an important mechanism of change within the system of care philosophy of service delivery. Implications for practice and staff training are discussed.

Becoming a parent: a model of parents' post-partum experience

Perceiving oneself as parent is a key challenge during the transition to parenthood. The importance of health professionals in determining perceived efficacy in parents upon the birth of their child is few explored. The objective of this study is to analayze the relations between the first time parents' perceived efficacy and their perceptions of nurses' help-giving and critical events during post-partum period. SAMPLE AND METHOD: One hundred sixty couples participated in a correlational study by completing questionaires after the birth of their first child. RESULTS: A model of parents' postpartum experience was established where nurses' collaboration and help-giving practices contribute directly and indirectly to the parents' perception of control and perceptions of events. They contribute indirectly to parent's perceived self-efficacy. IMPLICATIONS: The help given by health professionals, especially nurses, to parents following the birth of a child makes a major positive difference in the parents' experiences.

Family‐Oriented Program Models and Professional Helpgiving Practices*

The relationship between different models of family level interventions and two components of practitioner helpgiving (relational practices and participatory practices) was examined in two studies of parents of young children involved in different kinds of family oriented helpgiving programs. Relational and participatory aspects of helpgiving were found to be practiced less often in professionally centered programs compared to other kinds of family oriented programs. Participatory helpgiving practices that provided parents with (a) choices and options and (b) opportunities to be involved in both solutions to problems and acquisition of knowledge and skills that strengthen functioning were more likely to be found in programs that were family centered. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of the models used to structure social and human services program practices.

Predictors of Patient Enablement: The Role of Doctors' Helpgiving Style, Patient and Visit Characteristics

Patient enablement is a possible outcome of primary health care consultations and has been employed as a marker of effective helpgiving. We studied predictors of patient enablement, investigating the relative contribution of patient characteristics (gender, age, occupational status, and perceived health status), visit characteristics (length of consultation, duration of physician-patient relationship, and frequency of consultations), and the physician's reported helpgiving style (level of encouragement of patient participation in the consultation). The Helpgiving Practices Scale and Patient Enablement Instrument were completed by 103 patients from eight metropolitan general practices. Patients with better perceived health status and lower occupational status felt more enabled following their consultations. Frequency of consultations employed as a measure of "knowing a doctor well" was also significantly associated with post-consultation enablement. General practitioners' encouragement of patients to participate in their health care then added significantly to the explained variance in patient enablement. Results of this study indicate that the Patient Enablement Instrument is a useful measure of quality of care with scores being less positively skewed than those of frequent employed satisfaction measures.

Parental Perceptions of Help-Giving Practices and Control Appraisals in Early Intervention Programs

Sources of variations in parents' assessment of help-giving practices and perceived control appraisals were investigated. Participants included 69 parents of children, birth to age 5, with disabilities or at risk for poor developmental outcomes. Results indicated that parent and family characteristics showed no relationship to either help-giving practices or perceptions of personal control and self-efficacy. In contrast, program characteristics and help-giving practices were highly associated with the degree to which parents indicated they had control over needed services, resources, and supports. Implications for improving helping relationships are discussed.

Measuring the Helpgiving Practices of Human Services Program Practitioners

The psychometric properties and utility of the Helpgiving Practices Scale are described. The scale includes 25 items which measure different kinds of helpgiving practices that have previously been found associated with positive recipient outcomes, including psychosocial functioning and self-efficacy appraisals. Item analysis, internal consistency reliability, factor analysis, criterion-related validity, and known-groups validity found the scale to have excellent psychometric properties. The scale was especially useful for differentiating the helpgiving practices of professionals from different kinds of programs and agencies that varied on a continuum from professionally-centered to family-centered. Implications for research and practice are described.

Characteristics and consequences of help-giving practices in contrasting human services programs.

Relationships between human services program models and help-giving practices, and between both program models and help-giving practices and help-seeker control appraisals were examined in a study of 107 low socioeconomic background families. Three kinds of human services agencies were included in the study, each of which differed in terms of their implicit and explicit assumptions about the families they served and the roles professionals and families played as part of helping relationships. Results support the hypotheses that (a) a program philosophy that was family centered would be associated with more empowering help-giving practices compared to more professionally centered philosophies and (b) a family-centered program philosophy and empowering help-giving practices would be related to an enhanced sense of personal control over needed supports and resources from a target help-giver.