Has the early help agenda for parenting ability based targeted early help, helped?

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Barfield, SC, 2023. Has the early help agenda for parenting ability based targeted early help, helped? PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

In the United Kingdom, the recent emphasis on early help for families reflects a dynamic change in a culture towards early help for supporting/improving parenting capability. This study investigates targeted early help for families where there are parenting ability concerns and provides a novel insight into the perspectives, experiences and outcomes of people who use Nottinghamshire’s Family Service, the service’s staff and further stakeholders of the service.

The research adopts a systemic approach, utilising Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Theory as the conceptual framework and a mixed methodology to address the aims and objectives. Qualitative methods consisted of focus groups (with service providers n=22 and stakeholders n=6), and interviews (with previous service users n=10) with analyses using a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach. Focus groups (n=5) and interviews (n=10) explored the perspectives, including supports and barriers affecting targeted early help for parenting ability provided via the Family Service. Quantitative methods consisted of analyses of secondary data (n=1,258) using descriptive and non-parametric inferential statistics and explored the effectiveness and experienced outcomes of parenting ability support from the Family Service. Triangulation of the data was performed to answer the research question – Has the early help agenda for parenting ability based targeted early help, helped?

The findings demonstrate that the Family Service have adopted a preventative approach to working with children, young people and families and a positive shift towards a culture of early help is underway. Further findings highlight the importance of high-quality open and honest relationships and suggest an increasing unspoken level of need. Similarly, the findings reveal that families go on a journey of awareness in terms of the parenting ability and achieve either transactional or transformational outcomes.

Overall, the research provides an evidence informed approach to service delivery/configuration to improve outcomes from early help. Gaps are identified in the current systems of support and recommendations are provided regarding the implications for practice, policy and future research, to ensure children, young people and families are achieving positive outcomes when receiving parenting ability based targeted support.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Barfield, S.C.
Contributors:	Name Role NTU ID ORCID Bailey, D. Thesis supervisor UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Betts, L. Thesis supervisor UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
Date:	February 2023
Rights:	© The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	06 Jan 2025 15:17
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2025 15:17
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52780