UCLA Parent-Child Health and Wellness Program

Background

Program Goals:

To reach out to low income and underserved adult and teen parents with intellectual disabilities or other learning difficulties with strategies and parenting information in the areas of health and home safety

Intent:

Unintentional/ Intentional

Risk Factors Addressed:

Frequency and types of hazards observed in the home environment; parental knowledge of health and safety

Place of occurrence:

Home

Age/Age Range:

Adolescents / Adults

Other Population Characteristics:

Parents may have less formal education with lack of positive role models for parenting. Limited base of child health care, safety, and well-being knowledge; difficulty understanding information; fewer acquisition and application skills; uncertain incomes below the community poverty level; mostly single mothers; few supports, limited resources, negative self-image. Possibility and potential of child neglect and abuse; lack of capacity to attend to more than one task at a time.

Resources

Year Developed:

1995

Collaborative Organization(s):

Community agencies: health care, education, family and children’s services, and disability services

Funding Resource(s):

California Wellness Foundation
In-kind contributions from local large stores, manufacturers and distributors who provided discounts for safety devices. Local fire departments contributed some recommended fire extinguishers

Implementation

Context/Setting

Home

Strategies Used:

Education, Engineering, Enactment

Activities Used:

Created reading recognition and reading comprehension lists in the areas of health and home safety to assess parental knowledge of dangers. Home safety curriculum prepared and introduced including booklets, worksheets, safety device utilization instructions; using language that is easy to understand, hands-on experience, illustrations;

Legal and policy issues related to treatment and research assent/consent for vulnerable populations are examined and addressed.

Program Evaluation:

All materials pilot tested with two samples of 15 parents. Project staff developed and implemented procedures to fulfil legal, regularly, clinical and humanitarian requirements. Based on this experience, clinical trial conducted with 268 families.

Source of Best Practice:

Volpe, R., & Lewko, J. (2007). A Sourcebook of Evidence-Based Practices in the Prevention of Severe Injuries.

Original Source:

Tymchuk, A., Andron, L., & Ungar. O. (1987). Parents with mental handicaps and adequate child care-a review. Mental Retardation, 49-54.

Supplementary Material:

N/A

Local Example(s):

N/A

Contact Information: 

Dr. Alexander Tymchuk
Professor, UCLS Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles
760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 900024-1759 USA
Email: atymchuk@mednet.ucla.edu
Tel: 310-825-0026 

Outcomes

Long-term outcomes/Effectiveness:

The complete program with accompanied CD to be published in October 2005 by the Brookes Publishing Inc.

Short-term outcomes:

Significant increase in parental knowledge and skills on functional measures.
Replicated as random control trial study at University of Sydney, Australia
Full curriculum has been adopted and instituted across California and pilot tested in 10 sites in Colorado

Other

Date of Review:

2005

Classification:

Best Practice