Effective interventions to promote child and family wellness: a study of outcomes of intervention through Children's Family Centres.

This paper reports research carried out in Australia designed to evaluate the impact of family support interventions by comparing the views of families and their caseworkers with respect to the perceived benefits and outcomes of the interventions in the context of changes in family functioning and parent–child relationships, and the extent to which changes led to reduced involvement in protective services. The intervention was monitored over a six-month period using a pre- and post-test design, incorporating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the methodology. The paper discusses: problem domains identified; changes in caregivers’ level of distress, problem solving and learning ability, bonding style and use of discipline; parents’ and children's cooperation with the programme; and implications of the findings for policy and research methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]