{"title":"Engaging Families in Supporting the Whole Child: Chicago West Side Parents’ Perceptions of Child Health","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s10826-024-02786-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>Schools and districts nationwide have heavily emphasized supporting students’ health and wellbeing by engaging families and caregivers to truly support the “whole child,” as outlined in the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. The COVID-19 pandemic only heightened the important role of school and family partnerships in supporting children’s health. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Healthy CPS initiative is designed to support schools in their compliance with existing health and wellness policies to support child health. This study aimed to explore parents’ primary health concerns for their children, characterize these views, explore any alignment with WSCC, and identify recommendations for family engagement in school health promotion. Eleven semi-structured focus groups (seven English, four Spanish) were conducted with CPS parents/caregivers. Groups were conducted in spring 2021 on Chicago’s West Side, one of the more historically disinvested communities in the city. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using constant comparison, incorporating both inductive and deductive approaches. Key themes emerged related to parents’ perceptions of schools’ role in promoting health including: (1) parents see child health as a shared responsibility between families and schools; and (2) parents identify significant structural barriers and inequities that impede child health, such as racism, community violence, and a lack of community resources in their neighborhoods, and believe schools can do more to address them. Parents’ viewed child health and wellbeing as multidimensional and stated that these dimensions must be considered holistically. Their views aligned with WSCC family engagement-related components. Parents recommended that schools employ a variety of strategies to engage families. Findings from this paper have implications for engaging families in school health policy and program development as well as implementation, particularly those in lower income, urban communities that have faced a history of structural inequities.</p>","PeriodicalId":48362,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child and Family Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Child and Family Studies","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02786-2","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"FAMILY STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Schools and districts nationwide have heavily emphasized supporting students’ health and wellbeing by engaging families and caregivers to truly support the “whole child,” as outlined in the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. The COVID-19 pandemic only heightened the important role of school and family partnerships in supporting children’s health. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Healthy CPS initiative is designed to support schools in their compliance with existing health and wellness policies to support child health. This study aimed to explore parents’ primary health concerns for their children, characterize these views, explore any alignment with WSCC, and identify recommendations for family engagement in school health promotion. Eleven semi-structured focus groups (seven English, four Spanish) were conducted with CPS parents/caregivers. Groups were conducted in spring 2021 on Chicago’s West Side, one of the more historically disinvested communities in the city. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using constant comparison, incorporating both inductive and deductive approaches. Key themes emerged related to parents’ perceptions of schools’ role in promoting health including: (1) parents see child health as a shared responsibility between families and schools; and (2) parents identify significant structural barriers and inequities that impede child health, such as racism, community violence, and a lack of community resources in their neighborhoods, and believe schools can do more to address them. Parents’ viewed child health and wellbeing as multidimensional and stated that these dimensions must be considered holistically. Their views aligned with WSCC family engagement-related components. Parents recommended that schools employ a variety of strategies to engage families. Findings from this paper have implications for engaging families in school health policy and program development as well as implementation, particularly those in lower income, urban communities that have faced a history of structural inequities.
期刊介绍：
Journal of Child and Family Studies (JCFS) international, peer-reviewed forum for topical issues pertaining to the behavioral health and well-being of children, adolescents, and their families. Interdisciplinary and ecological in approach, the journal focuses on individual, family, and community contexts that influence child, youth, and family well-being and translates research results into practical applications for providers, program implementers, and policymakers. Original papers address applied and translational research, program evaluation, service delivery, and policy matters that affect child, youth, and family well-being. Topic areas include but are not limited to: enhancing child, youth/young adult, parent, caregiver, and/or family functioning; prevention and intervention related to social, emotional, or behavioral functioning in children, youth, and families; cumulative effects of risk and protective factors on behavioral health, development, and well-being; the effects both of exposure to adverse childhood events and assets/protective factors; child abuse and neglect, housing instability and homelessness, and related ecological factors influencing child and family outcomes.
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