5. Abstract for Paper 1 Provision of support for parents is recommended at an ecological level in order to be effective since many of the problems associated with poor parenting are linked to social disadvantage (Puckering 2009). Sure Start Children’s Centres have developed strength in delivering such holistic support (Barlow et al, 2007). Sure Start Local Programmes were set up in 1998 by the then Labour government as part of its policy to eliminate child poverty. In 2003 Sure Start’s initial focus on disadvantaged areas was changed to a universal Children’s Centre service accessible by families in all areas (Lewis, 2011). Children’s Centres continue to operate a universal service under the current Coalition government, with an emphasis on improving outcomes for the most disadvantaged families (DfE, 2010). Support for parents sits uneasily within a cultural context in which an intensive parenting discourse is linked to undue expectations of parents (Furedi, 2009; Wall, 2010).This study explores Children’s Centre users’ experiences of being a parent and of support for the role and uses IPA to analyse the data. Data were collected initially from a focus group discussion which is analysed and integrated into the main study following a protocol for IPA of focus groups developed by Palmer, Larkin, De Visser and Fadden (2010). Further data were collected from semi structured interviews with a purposive sample of four women with both preschool and secondary aged children. The data were analysed following a protocol for IPA outlined by Smith, Flowers and Larkin (2009). Findings suggest that for these parents ecological support (including community facilities, employment and social support) was important for their functioning as parents. Their level of engagement with an intensive parenting discourse appeared to be linked to their identity and self-actualisation. Implications are drawn for the way in which parenting support is framed within services and the media. Page 63 15. Abstract for Paper 2 This exploratory study is set within the context of a national policy that aims to normalise parent training and increase parenting skills in order to improve children’s life chances (DfE, 2012; Field, 2010). The local context is a city in the South of England where the Incredible Years (IY) parent training programme (Webster-Stratton, 2004) has been delivered since 2009. There is robust evidence of improved parent and child outcomes from the IY (Lindsay et al, 2008). In this city the IY is offered as both a universal and targeted service with participants either self-nominating or being nominated by involved professionals. This study addresses a gap in the research for process studies to illuminate how change came about for parents on the IY (Lindsay et al, 2008). It also builds on research by Miller and Sambell (2003) into how parents perceive parenting support. A 14 week IY programme was attended by the researcher to ensure prolonged engagement with participants. Semi structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of participants during and on completion of the IY course. Semi structured interviews were also conducted following the course with the two facilitators to add another perspective and see how they reflected parents’ experiences. Data were analysed following a procedure for IPA outlined by Smith, Flowers and Larkin (2009). Findings revealed that the group setting was both a challenge to access and a source of peer support. Leader qualities emerged as essential for parental engagement. This was reflected in facilitators’ accounts and underpinned by their nonjudgmental ethos. Within this accepting group setting with approachable leaders parents’ accounts suggest that change had come about for them through experiential learning putting strategies into practice in their own contexts with opportunities to reflect in group discussion. Issues are raised regarding Social Services nominations and constructs around discipline. Implications are drawn for practice and the role of the EP. Further research directions are suggested.

The public's continued disappointment with public education and the call for both teacher and student accountability is requiring a response from educators. School divisions in the state of Virginia are developing educational policies that address the state's Standards of Learning Objectives. Administrators and teachers continue to search for innovative ways to adapt the curriculum to guarantee individual student and school success for meeting accreditation requirements in the 2006-2007 school term. This demand for both student and teacher success has created an intense anxiousness among all persons involved in the educational process. The focus of this study was to determine what makes one school more successful in promoting student achievement on the Virginia Standards of Learning assessment than another comparable school. The exploration of a school's organizational structure, leadership practices, teaching behaviors of instructional personnel, school culture, and parent support were studied to determine their effect on student performance on the Standards of Learning assessments. The researcher was concerned with understanding of educational practices that would enrich the thinking of principals, teachers, and parents as they continue to accomplish Virginia's prescribed SOL benchmarks. Data was collected through classroom and school observations and interviews with the principals, teachers, and parents of the two schools. A cross-case comparison of the targeted schools was performed to check for commonalties and differences. Several variables emerged from the data that have implications for educators who desire to improve the effectiveness of their organizations and student achievement. An environment that promotes a sense of professional community, teacher efficacy, and a common commitment among stakeholders enhances teacher and student achievement. Principals willing to share leadership with teachers and parents have effective schools. They inspire and motivate teachers. Effective principals have high-energy levels. They listen to the people they serve. A school culture that encourages and rewards risk-taking serves to enhance teacher and student performance. Effective schools have positive, relaxed work environments. Principals that develop strong interpersonal relationships inside and outside the school positively influence student achievement and performance. / Ed. D.

The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the participants experiences of a parent support group and the effect of their participation on their parental role from a learning perspective. As the parent support group takes place as a group activity, the focus was on the individual learning processes which, in turn, are influenced by both the group itself as well as the leaders of the group. The empirical data was collected from a focus group interview with four mothers, and analyzed using empowerment and coping theories. Based on the participants´ narratives, the result showed that the parent support group had a great social and pedagogic effect on the participants. As a result of the received knowledge in the group from both leaders as well as from other participants, they felt less stressed and more confident in their parental role. Keywords: Parent support group, empowerment, coping

Bakgrund: Att vara förälder till ett barn i palliativt skede innebär en stor sorg och känsla av hjälplöshet. Vården av ett barn i palliativt skede innebär en total omvårdnad av barnets kropp och själ samt ett stöd åt barnets familj. Syfte: Att undersöka hur föräldrar till barn i palliativt skede upplever stödet från vårdpersonal och vilket stöd de önskar. Metod: Litteraturstudie där resultatet baseras på 13 originalartiklar. Resultat: I studiens resultat framkom en önskan om att vårdpersonalen skulle vara empatiska, ärliga och omtänksamma i vården av det palliativa barnet och dess familj. De upplevde att den bästa vården gavs när det fanns en kontinuitet i personalen och förtroendefulla relationer kunde byggas. Föräldrarna ville så långt det var möjligt vara delaktig i barnets vård och i beslutsfattande processer, de ville även få ta del av information och bli respekterade som föräldrar. Ett emotionellt och praktiskt stöd efterfrågades både under barnets sjukdom och efter barnets död. Vid brist på stöd fanns en risk för föräldrarna att utveckla psykisk och fysisk ohälsa. Slutsats: Alla föräldrar är unika individer som upplever olika känslor och behov av stöd när deras barn vårdas i ett palliativt skede och efter barnets död. Behovet av stöd behöver därför anpassas efter den enskilda familjen. Vårdpersonalen kan underlätta genom att vara lyhörd, empatisk, ärlig, engagerad, respektfull och uppmuntra föräldrarna att vara delaktiga i vården av barnet i det palliativa skedet. En god kontinuitet i personalen bidrar till att förtroendefulla relationer kan byggas mellan vårdpersonal och familj, något som föräldrarna ansåg viktigt för en god vårdkvalitet. Ett stöd som föräldrarna är nöjda med minskar risken för den psykiska och fysiska ohälsan hos föräldrarna både under sjukdomstiden och efter barnets död. / Background: Being a parent to a child in palliative care means a great sorrow and sense of helplessness. The care of a child in palliative care involves a complete care of the child’s body and mind, and support for the child’s family. Aim: To examine how parents to children in palliative care experience the support from health care professionals and what support they require. Method: A systematic review where the results are based on 13 original articles. Result: The results of this study revealed a desire for health care professionals to be empathic, honest and considerate in the care of the child and its family. They experienced the best care when there was continuity in health care professionals and trusting relationships could be built. The parents wanted as far as possible to be involved in the care of the child and in the decision making processes.  They also wanted to take part of the information and to be respected as parents. An emotional and practical support was requested both during the child’s illness and after the child’s death. Lack of support was a riskfactor for the parental unhealth. Conclusion: All parents are unique individuals who experience different feelings and needs of support for their child in palliative care and after the child has died. The support has to be adapted to the individual family. The health care professionals can support the families by being responsive, empathetic, honest, committed and respectful, and also encourage parents to be active in the care of the child. A good continuity in health care professionals contributes to establish trusting relationships between health care professionals and the family, which the parents considered important for a good quality of care. Unhealthy might be reduced among parents with a child in palliative care if they receive adequate support from health professionals during the child’s illness and after the child’s death.

This thesis is a case study of three virtual communities for parents of children with special needs in Taiwan. The main focus of this research was on understanding the role that virtual communities play in providing support for parents. This study addressed the following research questions: How do virtual communities provide support for parents of children with special needs in Taiwan? What motivates Taiwanese parents of children with special needs to search for support through virtual communities? How does the support provided through virtual communities impact the relationship between Taiwanese parents of children with special needs and professionals? This thesis constructs an analytical framework that helps in understanding the concept of support in virtual communities for parents of children with special needs. Employing this framework identified three broad types of support: informational support, advocacy, and emotional support. In this study, informational support included parenting skills, advice, and access to services; advocacy referred to articulating needs and rights; and emotional support included solidarity, increased self-esteem, acceptance, and affirmation. All three virtual communities were established by parents; two are managed by parents, and one is managed by a professional. Web-based observations were conducted in each virtual community from November 2014 to December 2015. Semi-structured interviews were held with 14 parents, 7 professionals, and 6 administrators and concentrated on experiences of, and motivations for, seeking and providing support through virtual communities. The analytical framework was used to identify broad themes in the data. A thematic analysis was employed to look across the cases to identify commonalities and differences, and finally, a systematic analysis borrowing from social network analysis was used to map the interactions among the participants. The main findings of this study indicate that information and support related to parenthood and parenting skills was easily accessed through virtual communities. Parents were found to join together to share their experiences of parenting, comfort one another, and advocate for their needs through the virtual communities. The parents occasionally excluded members of the community to ensure that all members shared similar parenting values. In addition, parents are beginning to gain control of knowledge and their relationships with professionals through virtual communities. This paper's main contributions to knowledge are as follows: (1) Virtual communities allow parents to redefine themselves in ways that they believe are publicly acceptable. (2) Parents are using virtual communities to exercise power to renegotiate their identity and obtain resources. (3) Parents are also starting to alter the power relationships between themselves and professionals.

Background: The parenting usually entails great joy but can also involve major challenges. Parenting is not always experienced positively, on occasion it can be very stressful. Studies show that early intervention can enhance the parenting role and promote connection between the child and the parent and thus facilitate illness prevention in children.  Aim: To illustrate child health, nurses and parenting counselors provided extended home visits for new parents.    Method: A qualitative design and the phenomenological approach are used. Seven interviews were carried out with Child health nurses and parenting counselors. The results were analyzed with a content analysis.  Results consist of four headings; Prerequisites for good cooperation, The importance of the meeting place, Concrete support for parents, Challenges to support parents  Conclusion: The result shows that the project helped child health nurses and parenting counselors provide increased security and support in the parenting role. They have learned that the collaboration in the project has been experienced positively as they together can support families with their specific knowledge. Their view is that the families appreciate the support offered and it is easier for them to discuss sensitive topics in their own home. The prerequisites for being able to respond to challenges in the project require staff support from the manager and training in different cultural approaches.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo / Parental involvement is a significant element that can have an impact or enhancement in the child’s education. Parental involvement implicates the active and significant involvement of the parent in all aspects, where a parent is interacting with the child for guidance and support. However, research in Okeke (2014:1) shows that poor parental involvement is the biggest challenge facing public schools in South Africa, especially schools situated in rural areas. This study aims at investigating factors that affect parental involvement in education of their children at primary school level, in Bahananwa circuit, Blouberg Municipality, Limpopo Province. In this study, the researcher employed mixed research approach and used purposive sampling to identify respondents who have adequate of parental involvement at schools. Accordingly, the researcher targeted all 28 School Governing Body (SGB) members which includes 3 principals, 15 parents and 10 educators in selected three primary schools within the circuit of Bahananwa. The researcher personally delivered the semi-structured questionnaires to the SGB members from the sampled schools and collected them after completion. Additionally, the researcher used observation sheet to collect more information on parental involvement. According to the findings, the primary schools are doing more through consultative meetings, among others, to ensure that parents are involved in the education of their children, both at school and at home. The schools use meetings as a major tool for parental involvement practice, but participation in the meetings was passive. The schools involve parents mostly on governance and administrative matters meaning that there is less parental involvement in curricular and extra-curricular activities. Another key finding in the study is that schools are performing inadequately with regard to learners’ performance. It is also found that the major challenges affecting parental involvement in the schools among others include parents who do not have time due to their working schedules and some due to illiteracy. The findings show that meeting areas are inconvenient for parental consultative meetings. While majority of parents have supportive attitude towards their children education, the significant proportion of parents still do not have supportive attitude. It is recommended that parental involvement in the decision making process needs to be enhanced through contact sessions to improve learners’ performance. It is also suggested that parental involvement needs to be improved in extracurricular and voluntary activities. It is further recommended that parents’ engagement at home needs to be enhanced to enhance learners’ performance.

<p>The aim of this literature review was primarily to describe how the nurse can involve the parents in the care for their premature baby, and secondly to describe the aim, design, method, population and quality of the reviewed studies. Searches have been made in different databases in order to find articles where the search words ”neonatal care”, ”neonatalvård”, ”premature infants” and ”nurse” were included. The literature review was based on 12 scientific articles. The results of the study were divided into six categories; The nursing staff’s relation to the parents, Support group, “Home-early program”, Decision-making, A work in progress and A safe and efficient method. It is the nurse’s task to create a trusting relationship to the parents. The parents’ relationship to the child is a determining factor in its development. Some of the studies described how support groups can be used to help families with premature children. The studies showed that parents want to be involved in making decisions about their baby, but they also find it frightening. There are a lot of ways for the nurse to involve parents in the care for their premature baby. It is very important that the parents get sufficient information, which will enable them to be active when decisions are made about their baby.</p>

The aim of this literature review was primarily to describe how the nurse can involve the parents in the care for their premature baby, and secondly to describe the aim, design, method, population and quality of the reviewed studies. Searches have been made in different databases in order to find articles where the search words ”neonatal care”, ”neonatalvård”, ”premature infants” and ”nurse” were included. The literature review was based on 12 scientific articles. The results of the study were divided into six categories; The nursing staff’s relation to the parents, Support group, “Home-early program”, Decision-making, A work in progress and A safe and efficient method. It is the nurse’s task to create a trusting relationship to the parents. The parents’ relationship to the child is a determining factor in its development. Some of the studies described how support groups can be used to help families with premature children. The studies showed that parents want to be involved in making decisions about their baby, but they also find it frightening. There are a lot of ways for the nurse to involve parents in the care for their premature baby. It is very important that the parents get sufficient information, which will enable them to be active when decisions are made about their baby.

Some romantic relationship types have a greater likelihood of receiving parental support than do others. Specifically, adults in traditional romantic relationships (i.e., same-race, opposite-sex) perceive more parental support for their relationships than do individuals in socially stigmatized relationships (e.g., interracial, same-sex relationships; Lehmiller & Agnew, 2006). The goal of the current study was to understand better what motivates parents to provide support for their adult children’s romantic relationships. To address this question, the original and a modified version of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1975) were tested. The TRA was implemented to measure whether parents’ attitudes toward showing support and the parents’ subjective norms were associated with the parents’ intentions to provide support for their children’s relationships in the future. In the modified model, subjective norms was reconceptualized to include parents’ perceptions of stigma by associating with their children’s relationships and the perceived threat of sanctions from the parent’s social networks if the parents were to provide support for their children’s relationships in the future. To improve predictive ability of the models, theoretically relevant covariates were included in each model. To capitalize on a variety of viewpoints, this study included parents whose children were either single or in dating relationships. Parents whose child was single completed the questionnaire while imagining his or her child in a traditional, interracial, or same-sex relationship whereas parents whose child was in a dating relationship reported on his or her child’s current relationship. A sample of 438 parents completed an online survey. Overall, across all groups, parents’ attitudes toward providing support were consistently associated with parents’ intentions to provide support. Associations between the parents’ subjective norms and intentions to provide support varied across groups and were not always significantly associated with parents’ intentions to provide support in the future. Furthermore, parents’ motivations to provide support differed among parents who imagined their children in relationships compared to parents whose children were in real relationships, suggesting parents may overestimate problems with their children’s interracial and same-sex relationships and underestimate problems with their children’s traditional relationships than may occur in real-life situations. / text