Transcript Slide 1

Strengthening Families
for Parents and Youth
Building Resiliency in At-Risk Youth
in Ontario
Addictions Ontario Conference
May 31, 2011
Marriott Toronto Airport Hotel
Presenters
Diane Buhler, Parent Action on Drugs,
SFPY Lead Agency
Barbara Steep, Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health,
SFPY Partner and SFF Lead
Thanks to our partners:
• Toronto Drug Strategy
• Health Canada, DSCIF
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Toronto Public Health
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Griffin Centre
Hospital for Sick Kids, Adolescent Medicine Division
Toronto Catholic District School Board
YMCA of Greater Toronto
Youthlink
Jean Tweed Centre
Learning Objectives
• Participants will
– Be familiar with the SFPY project
– Understand the key concepts of the SFPY
program
– Understand how the SFPY program supports
resiliency
– Understand how the program model and
concepts can be adapted in diverse clinical
and community settings including addictions,
treatment and youth serving
Agenda
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Introductions
SFP and the SFPY project
Building Resiliency
At-Risk Youth
SFPY learning models and examples
Applications within addictions programs,
treatment settings and youth serving agencies
• Program outcomes and learnings
Introductions
Strengthening Families Program
• Program model was developed as a 4 year NIDA
grant in 1983 specifically to increase resiliency among
children of alcohol and drug-abusing parents by Dr.
Karol Kumpfer, University of Utah
• Results demonstrated that combining the parenting,
children’s skills training and family relationship
enhancement program strengthened many factors
against drug-abuse
Strengthening Families Program
• Cited as one of the best interventions of its kind by
Cochrane Collaboration, the US National Institute
on Drug Abuse, the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention and the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Service Administration
• Recognized as “best practice” program by CCSA
Strengthening Families Program
• Goal: Improve parent-child relationships and
family functioning
• Outcomes:
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Reduce environmental risk factors among children/youth
Improve protective factors among children/youth
Increasing personal resilience among children/youth
Reduced involvement in high risk behaviours (e.g. drug
use, unsafe sexual behaviours etc)
9A (P)
Strengthening Families
Goal
The Protective Layer
I’m
Special
Build resiliency by:
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protective factors
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risk factors
- Feels accepted
- Feels appreciated
-Strengths: humour,
morality, creativity,
independence, insight
stress
Caring Adults
Positive Friends
SFP Adaptations
• Many initiatives throughout the world, with a
global data base maintained
• Canadian
• Ontario: Strengthening Families for the Future (for
parents and children 7-11) accessed through CAMH
– Used for more than 10 years, underwent a 5 year evaluation
• Also rural British Columbia and French-speaking and
English-speaking Black Canadians in Quebec
• American
• African-American, Latino, American-Indian, Asian/Pacific
Islander, Rural (Iowa)
SFPY Project Background
• The Toronto Drug Strategy (TDS) identified the
need for family-based early intervention initiatives
• SFF is currently used by diverse agencies in Toronto
as well as in rural and urban communities
throughout Ontario
• Program for youth using the SFP model was
identified as filling a gap
SFPY Project Description
• Strengthening Families for Parents and Youth 12-16:
A Community Initiative to Adapt an Evidence Based Model
for Implementation with Families of At-Risk Youth
• Funded by the Drug Strategy Community Initiatives Fund of
Health Canada
• Produce an evidence based program model appropriate for
families and communities with at risk-youth in Toronto and
applicable to communities throughout Ontario
SFPY Adaptations
• Shorten from 14 - 8 sessions
– Factors: Youth tolerance; implementation
practicalities, family commitment
• Addition of a new module on youth and drug
use
• Re-write of materials for Ontario audiences
– 4 youth forums/workshops provided input on content,
activities and materials:
• Initial review (e.g. youth’s views on family, drugs etc.)
• Feedback on processes and material design from pilot session
Project Status
• Initial adaptation followed by 2 revisions of the
8-week curriculum
• 5 trials completed with YMCA, TCDSB,
Griffin and CAMH partners
• 3 trials completing this spring + 1 in fall
• Lessons learned: parents love it, youth CAN
enjoy it, incentives count, and food is
important to everyone!
Project Evaluation
• Extremely important – to ascertain impact of adapted
curriculum on standardized measures of resiliency
• Parent evaluation of family functioning and perception of child
behaviour
• Retro pre/post test from K. Kumpfer
• Input and analysis from Kumpfer along with multitude of
international trials of all ages and adaptations
• Parent/youth open ended satisfaction questionnaire
• Youth perception of family functioning – a challenge
• Process evaluation from facilitators and coordinators
SFPY Curriculum Overview
• 8 weeks covers all topics of original 14 week
curriculum, except sexuality
• Parent and youth sessions cover matching
topics
• Builds from initial positive attention and praise
to problem solving
• 9th week is evaluation and celebration
SFPY Format/Implementation
• Family meal + parent/youth sessions (70
minutes) followed by family session (50
minutes)
• Childcare provided
• Site arrangements for rooms, meals,
childcare and other logistics of delivery
• Facilitator preparation and debriefing
• PAD management with site coordinator
Building Resiliency
• What do we mean by resiliency?
• Building youth resiliency via parent responses
• Significant where parents are overwhelmed by
– Personal issues
– Teen’s challenging behaviours
– Family risk factors
– Environmental risk factors
At-Risk Youth
• Youth identified by:
– Behaviours at school
– Difficult home environments
– Parent’s inability to support child
– Substance use/abuse
– Parent-child conflict
SFPY Parents Learning Model:
• Ownership of need and capacity for
change to improve family functioning
• Skills- building and practice, practice,
practice!
• Emphasis on praise, positive
communication, positive discipline, and
problem solving
• Recognition of youths’ stressors, needs
and voice
SFPY Youth Learning Model
Engage
Explain
Experience
Explore
Empower
SFPY Family Learning Model
• Positive family interaction – parent and youth (e.g.
Parent-Teen Game)
• Appreciate teens (e.g. Teen Time & Teen Goals)
• Intergenerational teams (e.g. Communication
Squares activity)
• Dialogue on challenging subjects (e.g.
4 corners activity)
• Increase family commitment (e.g. Family Mobile/Pie)
• Empower youth (e.g. Message to Our Parents)
Adapting SFPY to Addictions and
Other Settings
• Make minor changes to represent culture and
service philosophy without compromising model
• Support treatment goals/recovery maintenance
• Facilitators representative of cultures/ milieu
• Encourage parents who have experienced
trauma, disorders but who are stable in terms of
diagnoses
SFPY Lessons Learned
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Appreciate diversity
Acknowledge possible family/youth discomfort
Focus on family strengths
Concentrate on skill acquisition and practice
(parents)
• Invite parents to try new methods
• Cannot resolve issues of teen problem behaviour –
can improve parent-teen interaction
SFPY Outcomes and Impact
• Initial trials: meeting outcome objectives
• Youth Empowerment: Message to our
parents
• Parent Commitment to applying new skills
• Family Commitment to Change
• Families re-engaged and open to pursuing
further help
• Reduced substance use
Youth:
Our message
to our parents
I’m not a weak person,
I’m a strong individual.
As a parent, something thing I will take away
from this program and intend to practice with my
family is…
•Solving problems
•Family meetings, “I” statements, consequences
for his actions
•To have better communication with my kids and
to use positive attention, praise and rewards
•Express your feelings….then just ‘walk away’,
no nagging, no blaming. Let the past go.
•Using positive attention and praise to reward
behaviour I want.
•Positive real communication. Manage stress
and anger in a positive way.
For more information:
• Strengthening Families for Parents and
Youth, contact:
Diane Buhler, Parent Action on Drugs
[email protected]
• Strengthening Families for the Future,
contact:
Barbara Steep, CAMH
[email protected]