Presbyterian Support Upper South Island (PSUSI) is a social service agency whose strategic mission incorporates helping families to flourish and function well. Practice-based research led PSUSI to realise that many families suffered from ‘relationship poverty’.
This Families Commission report considered how developing meaningful connections with people in the workplace and schools could strengthen relationships between family members (particularly parents and their children), schools and parents, employees and employers and families and their support networks (in particular other parents, and a social service agency), and address issues such as isolation and stress.
This report was developed for the Families Commission Innovative Practice Fund by Sue Quinn and Anna Mowat, Presbyterian Support Upper South Island.
- Can families be supported through schools, and if so how?
- Can families be supported through workplaces, and if so how?
- What incentives and mechanisms would encourage further uptake of family-friendly initiatives in the workplace?
Purpose
PSUSI’s action research initiative was named Connections. The overarching aim of Connections was to provide further support for families through primary schools and workplaces by strengthening relationships between:
- family members (particularly parents and their children)
- schools and parents
- employees and employers
- families and their support networks (in particular other parents, and a social service agency).
In addition, Connections sought to generate information in response to the listed questions:
- Can families be supported through schools, and if so how?
- Can families be supported through workplaces, and if so how?
- What incentives and mechanisms would encourage further uptake of family-friendly initiatives in the workplace?
Methodology
Research in schools included interviews, focus groups and surveys with principals, parents and young people. In addition, participant evaluations were conducted after some events, all courses and during the normal conduct of some group meetings. Research on the workplaces stream involved gathering pre- and post-intervention survey data from conference attendees and PSUSI employees. Data were predominantly analysed thematically and assessed against outcomes. Lessons learnt, or organisational learning, was used to inform service development and the broader debate about future approaches to supporting families through schools and workplaces. Organisational learning also speaks to what enables innovative practice.
Key Results
