Our Parents Have Parenting Confidence and Healthy Lifestyles
Happy Families Wellbeing Campaign
​
Purpose
To inspire whole of community support for parents and families, with a focus on the early years.
​
Objectives​
The Happy Families wellbeing campaign aims to grow champions in community with the right awareness of childhood development to offer informal words of support to parents they encounter in community, and some basic referral knowledge to offer self-guided support, where stigma or fear of consequences might deter access to early intervention supports.
​
Community Identified Need
The campaign is targeted at those individuals who might be at risk of vulnerability but have potential to grow capacity and independence. The projects assume that for some individuals, the right catalyst or connection can positively influence their life course and enable resilience and resourcefulness.
Designed to increase early interventions, the campaign aims to reduce pressure on services offering more clinical supports where a child or family’s needs have progressed to be more acute.
Stakeholders
-
​Participants of The Early Years, Together in Action Event Wednesday 21 February 2024​​
​
Measures
↑ # participation in parenting programs
↑ # participation in early intervention programs and supports
↑ # parents reporting change in parenting confidence
↓ # domestic violence orders, where a child is named
↓ # mental health referrals and presentations for children and parents
↓ #, % child protection substantiations​​​​​
​
Methodology
The Happy Families campaign provides gentle nudges in community to prompt and support parents and families to access resources and early supports that will help them grow capacity to provide safe, loving, nurturing environments for our local children, recognising that life and parenting can be tricky!
The project recognises the role local community plays in supporting family wellbeing.
​
Activity to Date​
Participants of The Early Years, Together in Action Event Wednesday 21 February 2024, (60 early childhood stakeholders and professionals) considered the opportunity and limitations of these campaigns in supporting improved outcomes for our children and families.
A Happy Families resource flyer has been created with community feedback invited at upcoming community engagement activities and sector engagement.
​
Resources​
​
Next Actions
​​Further resources, identified by practitioners, are being developed that will support this project, in the form of a program database and referral pathway guides. These resources will support soft referrals by community and social prescribing by professionals, enabling appropriate early interventions that can avoid escalation of issues to more acute needs.
​​
Related News​​​​
​
​
Parenting Programs
Also covers community priority area – Our parents have access to supports
​
Purpose
Identify factors influencing lasting outcomes from parenting programs and ensure efforts to scale up this service provision creates best possible child and parent outcomes.
​
Objectives​
Assess the availability, participation, equity and effectiveness of programs through long-term evaluation, reinforcing successful outcomes at the time of participation via follow up contact and potential booster activities, ensuring that parents have access to the right support at the right time.​
​
Community Identified Need
Evidence-based parenting support programs have experienced fluctuating periods of high demand, at times beyond capacity of local providers, indicating the need for increased provision. These programs receive positive feedback from participants and positive practitioner observations in relation to client outcomes (success stories from clients), prompting a desire to increase supply to meet demand.
This project builds on the existing outcomes of evidence-based parenting programs that are experiencing high demand and wait times for access.
The project is based on the assumption that existing evidence-based programs (eg Circle of Security, Tuning into Kids, Triple P, 123 Magic) are an appropriate support in our region to assist parents grow and learn how to provide nurturing, safe, loving homes for our local children.
This project acknowledges that:
-
parenting, while rewarding, can also be tough!
-
while programs might have positive outcomes at the time of delivery or completion of the training, families face the challenge of trying to maintain the practices they have learned, amongst the busyness of life and parenting.
Stakeholders
-
Strong Communities
-
CQUniversity Researchers
-
Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CQHHS) – Child, Youth and Family Health
-
Restacking the Odds (RSTO)​​​
​​
Measures
↑ # participation in parenting programs
↑ # participation in early intervention programs and supports
↑ # parents reporting change in parenting confidence
↓ # domestic violence orders, where a child is named
↓ # mental health referrals and presentations for children and parents
↓ #, % child protection substantiations​​
​
Methodology
Local service provision increases in Term 3 and Term 4 2024 delivering Tuning into Kids Program and a First Nations Focused Circle of Security Program and provides equitable participation of vulnerable families who would otherwise be restricted based on existing program eligibility.
Over the next 18 months, Strong Communities and university researchers are working together in a mixed method longitudinal study to explore factors that help parents sustain lasting outcomes, amongst the busyness of life and parenting.
The trust and confidence to engage, fostered by authentic care and relationships between program facilitators and parents, is acknowledged by this project and considers facilitators best positioned to lead follow-up contact activities
​
Activity to Date​
-
The Early Years, Together in Action Event Wednesday 21 February 2024, attended by 60 early childhood stakeholders and professionals, endorsed project initiative.
-
Regional provisions of parenting programs mapped
-
Collaborative Partnership of Strong Communities, GRT and CQUniversity formed in July 2024
-
Term 3 parenting programs have commenced.
​​
Resources
​​
Next Actions
Once this project has considered how we can leverage parenting programs as an existing asset in our community, further work may be required to:
-
​increase accessibility of parenting programs to meet demand
-
identify target audiences not participating and grow awareness of benefits.
​
Related News​​​​​​
Supported Playgroups
Also covers community priority area – Our parents have access to supports
​
Purpose
Identify how access to holistic wellbeing (wrap around) supports can be optimised through supported playgroups.
​
Objectives​
Build on the success of supported playgroups as an enriching experience to support child development, and warm entry point for parents to access other supports including more formal support when needed. Assess the pathways that families access to other supports as a result of engaging in supported playgroups and explore how these practices can be optimised, for example via the use of more specific child development tools and processes.​
​
Community Identified Need
Activity is based on the assumption that supported playgroups are an appropriate support in our region to assist parents to grow their knowledge and parenting skills and learn how to provide nurturing, safe, loving homes for our local children.
​
Our region is experiencing greater demand for support playgroups than availability.
​
These programs receive positive feedback from participants and positive practitioner observations in relation to client outcomes (success stories from clients) instigating a desire to increase a supply to meet demand.
​
The authentic care and relationships founded between playgroup facilitators and parents fosters trust and confidence to engage, providing an ideal setting to reach parents early to deliver key child health and development promotion messages, leading to positive family wellbeing outcomes.
Stakeholders
-
Strong Communities
-
Communities for Children
-
CQUniversity Researchers
​​
Measures (click on linked measure to see current data)
↑ # participation in early intervention programs and supports
↑ # parents reporting change in parenting confidence
↑ % parents reading to children at home
↓ % children requiring further assessment
↓ % children developmentally vulnerable across 5 domains
↑ % children developmentally on track (prep year)
​
Methodology
Local service provision increases in Term 3 and Term 4 2024 and provides equitable participation of vulnerable and non-vulnerable families.
Over the next 18 months, Strong Communities and university researchers are working together in a mixed method longitudinal study to assess factors that help sustain positive outcomes of supported playgroups.
​
Activity to Date​
-
The Early Years, Together in Action Event Wednesday 21 February 2024, attended by 60 early childhood stakeholders and professionals endorsed project initiative.
-
Collaborative Partnership of Strong Communities, GRT and CQUniversity formed in July 2024.
​​
Resources
​​
Next Actions
-
Survey and measure longitudinal outcomes for families engaging in supported playgroups.
-
Enhance data collection across service provision, client demographics and outcomes, and waitlists.
-
Scale up provision as required to meet demand.
​​
Related News​​​​​​