Parents' perspectives of a universal early attachment programme in Scotland.

Publisher: Oxford University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9008939 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1460-2245 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09574824 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Health Promot Int Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Eynsham, Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press, c1990-

Health Promotion* ; Maternal-Child Health Services* ; Social Support*; Parents/*psychology; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Infant ; Parents/education ; Program Evaluation ; Qualitative Research ; Scotland

The 'A Good Start' programme is a universal early attachment programme for parents and babies aged 8 weeks and over, run by a charitable organization in one Scottish local authority. The programme offers non-stigmatizing support and parents are encouraged to access other community resources on completing it. At a family level, the programme aims are that parents (i) have an increased feeling of well-being; (ii) are more attuned to their babies and (iii) are more aware of services and confident in becoming involved with them. The collaborative research study was undertaken by a small research team between March 2014 and January 2015. It had two strands-a collaborative element which involved developing and supporting the use of the outcomes frameworks together with project staff and direct evaluation work, namely collation of the 'A Good Start Web' outcome measurement tool results and conducting interviews and focus groups with parents, staff and volunteer instructors who delivered the programme. The objectives of the evaluation were to evaluate the extent to which the programme were met, using the 'A Good Start Web' outcome measurement tool, augmented by qualitative data. It was clear from the qualitative evaluation data that most parents who participated in the programme felt that they benefited from it in many ways. Parents valued the opportunity to meet with other parents for peer support, to undertake a practical activity to enhance the bond with their baby which relaxed them both and to reduce their anxiety about caring for an infant.
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Keywords: community capacity building; community-based intervention; community-based prevention; health promotion programmes; maternal health

Date Created: 20160414 Date Completed: 20180725 Latest Revision: 20180725

20240628

10.1093/heapro/daw026

27073106