A parenting programme for parents of 2-9 year olds
Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) is a suite of parenting programmes developed in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, see WHO Parenting for Lifelong Health. These programmes were designed for low-resource settings, and aim to deliver evidence based interventions which have open access and are not for profit. The key goal is to prevent child maltreatment through training parents in skills that have been shown to be effective in improving parent-child relationships, child attachment security and child development, reducing family mental health distress amongst other benefits.
The prevention of child maltreatment has been linked to long term physical and mental health and socio-occupational benefits for children later in life.
CEIT work has initially focused on the PLH programme for parents of young children (PLH-YC) where we contributed to work in South Africa and the Philippines. In the UK the programme is called ‘Caring Families’. CEIT promotes the use of the PLH-YC Caring Families programme by offering facilitator training to deliver the programme through its training company EIWT.
For more information on the PLH-YC programme, including what it is, how it is delivered and research evidence, see our PLH- YC booklet.
Information/advice for parents arising from, and linked to, our work with the PLH project has been posted on the World Health Organisation website to support parents during COVID. This is available in over 90 languages, including Welsh and can be accessed via the following links: General website: WHO Parenting advice and WHO Welsh Language Parenting Advice
Frequently asked questions about the programme
Who is the Caring Families programme for?
Parents of children aged 2-9 years, typically experiencing parenting challenges including difficult child behaviour.
How is the Caring Families programme delivered?
It is a 12 session, weekly, group-based programme. Each session is 2-2.5 hours.
Who can train to deliver this programme?
Community based practitioners working with families. Familiarity with delivery of parenting programmes, and parenting theories is beneficial but not required.
What does the practitioner training involve?
Depending on facilitator experience, three or four days of collaborative facilitation methods and parenting principles. Ongoing supervision is recommended during programme delivery.
What support and resources are available?
The programme includes a facilitator manual and a parent handbook. Both are freely available on the WHO website.
Ongoing supervision for programme delivery can be arranged with your trainer.
If you would like to discuss the programme in more detail, contact us
Book our training courses, through our online booking pages
Research
Lachman, J. M., Alampay, L. P., Jocson, R. M., Alinea, C., Madrid, B., Ward, C., Hutchings, J., Mamauag, B. L., Garilao, M. A. V. F. V. and Gardner, F. (2021) Effectiveness of a parenting programme to reduce violence in a cash transfer system in the Philippines: RCT with follow-up. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 17, 10027. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.lanwpc.2021.100279
Jansen, E., Frantz I., Hutchings, J., Lachman, J., Williams, M., …… Heinrichs, N. and Foran, H. M. (2021) Preventing child mental health problems in southeastern Europe: Feasibility study (phase 1 of MOST framework) Family Process, First published: 07 September 2021 https:// doi.org/10.1111/famp.12720
Mamaug, B. L., Alampay, L. P., Lachman, J., Madrid, B. J., Hutchings, J., Ward, C. L. and Gardner, F. (2021). A South-to-South Cultural Adaptation of an Evidence-Based Parenting Program for Families in the Philippines. Family Process. doi: 10.1111/famp.12625
Shenderovich Y, … Hutchings J, Kisyombe D, Massetti G, Mazak J, Mbuyi H, Singh P, Polsky K, Rakotomalala S, Raleva M, Savo R & Cluver L (2021). The Science of Scale for Violence Prevention: A New Agenda for Family Strengthening in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 199. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.581440
Jansen, E., Lachman, J. M., Heinrichs, N., Hutchings, J., Baban, A. and Foran, H. M. (2020) Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence. Frontiers in Public Health, April 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00115
Shenderovich, Y., Ward, C.L., Lachman, J.M. …… Hutchings, J., Gardner, F. and Cluver, L. (2020). Evaluating the dissemination and scale-up of two evidence-based parenting interventions to reduce violence against children: study protocol. Implementation Science Communications, 1, 109. https:// doi.org/10.1186/s43058-020-00086-6