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Background: The Circle of Security Parenting programme is a manualised parenting intervention that aims to enhance secure attachment and improve relationships between children and their caregivers. It is gaining global popularity and acquiring emerging support. Researchers are increasingly interested in its effectiveness in enhancing parent-child attachment, improving parent psychological flexibility and reducing parental stress. However, research to date has predominantly focused on parents of typically developing children, despite the Circle of Security Parenting intervention being used as a parenting programme in specialist services for children with learning disabilities. There is, however, no clear evidence that this programme meets the diverse needs of parents who encounter additional challenges that may impact on the development of secure parent-child attachment relationships. This case study aims to pilot a seven-session Circle of Security Parenting programme for parents of children with learning disabilities. Methods: Four participants completed pre- and post-intervention outcome measures specified by Circle of Security Parenting, including: the Parental Stress Scale, Parental Acceptance Questionnaire, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II and the Caregiver Helplessness Questionnaire. Findings: Quantitative results are mixed, and did not demonstrate the improvements in parental stress or psychological flexibility that might be expected. Qualitative accounts of participants' experiences offer potential explanations for the findings that may be unique to parents of children with learning disabilities. Conclusion: This paper recognises that further research is needed to identify evidence-based programmes that meet the needs of this population.

Background: The promotion of secure attachment relationships in childhood leads to better outcomes in later life (British Psychological Society 2017, "Incorporating Attachment Theory into Practice: Clinical Practice Guideline for Clinical Psychologists Working with People who have Intellectual Disabilities"). The Circle of Security Parenting Programme (COS-P) provides a clear framework for reflecting on attachment relationships (Cooper et al 2009, "Zero to Three," 37, 27). Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of children with learning disabilities who attended a COS-P programme to find out about their experiences of the course and how applicable it was to them. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Four key themes were identified--these related to (1) COS-P concepts are relevant to all children but (2) parenting a child with a learning disability is different and (3) COS-P can create a focus on their child as different, which can be painful, and (4) changes recommended to make COS-P suitable for parents of children with learning disabilities. Conclusions: This paper outlines the benefits and challenges of COS-P in sharing concepts related to attachment, whilst highlighting differences for parents of children and young people with learning disabilities, which can be painful.

Engagement, an important concept in the determination of overall employee output, has become an important factor within the healthcare sector, and in light of various challenges facing employees, such as high workloads and long working hours, engagement also plays a significant role in ensuring improved healthcare output. Meanwhile, leadership, which plays a major role in guiding and influencing employees toward goal achievement, is the driving force behind employee engagement. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to examine the nature of the relationship between three different leadership techniques—transformational, transactional and passive avoidant—and employee engagement in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) healthcare sector. Research has shown that transactional and transformational leadership have the highest level of impact on employee engagement as a result of the role leaders play in the inspiration and stimulation of employees. The methodology applied to examine this statement involved a random selection of 84 health employees from three PNG hospitals: ANGAU Memorial Provincial Hospital, Mount Hagen General Hospital and Port Moresby General Hospital. A correlation analysis of the quantitative research methodology was then applied to evaluate the relationship between key variables in the collected data. A final analysis of results revealed that, within the PNG healthcare sector, transformational and transactional leadership both have a positive relationship with employee engagement, while passive avoidant leadership has a negative relationship with employee engagement.

Family involvement in mental health treatment has been shown to improve outcomes for service users. This project used a whole system‐focused action research framework and involved service users, family members and healthcare professionals to develop ways to improve family engagement in an adult inpatient mental health service. Focus groups were conducted with two service users, two family members and four healthcare professionals to discuss their experiences of family involvement and develop initial ideas. A problem‐solving group, involving service users, family members and professionals, was used to develop the solutions. The project identified context‐specific solutions to improve family engagement, which included specific training for professionals working on the inpatient wards, questionnaires to facilitate conversations with families, and sharing information about mental health and the inpatient mental health service with families. These may be helpful for other adult inpatient services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Circle of Security Parenting programme is a manualised parenting intervention that aims to enhance secure attachment and improve relationships between children and their caregivers. It is gaining global popularity and acquiring emerging support. Researchers are increasingly interested in its effectiveness in enhancing parent–child attachment, improving parent psychological flexibility and reducing parental stress. However, research to date has predominantly focused on parents of typically developing children, despite the Circle of Security Parenting intervention being used as a parenting programme in specialist services for children with learning disabilities. There is, however, no clear evidence that this programme meets the diverse needs of parents who encounter additional challenges that may impact on the development of secure parent–child attachment relationships. This case study aims to pilot a seven‐session Circle of Security Parenting programme for parents of children with learning disabilities. Methods: Four participants completed pre‐ and post‐intervention outcome measures specified by Circle of Security Parenting, including: the Parental Stress Scale, Parental Acceptance Questionnaire, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II and the Caregiver Helplessness Questionnaire. Findings: Quantitative results are mixed, and did not demonstrate the improvements in parental stress or psychological flexibility that might be expected. Qualitative accounts of participants' experiences offer potential explanations for the findings that may be unique to parents of children with learning disabilities. Conclusion: This paper recognises that further research is needed to identify evidence‐based programmes that meet the needs of this population. Accessible summary: The Circle of Security Parenting (COS‐P) programme is a group for parents. It helps them to think about their child's needs and behaviour.COS‐P tries to help parents improve their relationship with their child.We do not know if it helps parents of children with learning disabilities, who often have different challenges.We used questionnaires to see if COS‐P helps parents of children with learning disabilities. The questionnaires showed that COS‐P did not help parents as much as we expected.We found that it is important to listen to what parents say about their experiences of the COS‐P programme. This helps us understand if it is useful for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]