Integrating the Family Wellbeing Program Into Practice: A Conceptual Model

ABSTRACT

The experience of trauma in childhood can have lifelong consequences. For Indigenous people the effects can be overcome through protective factors such as connection to family and country, and feeling empowered by having more control over their lives in the socio-political environment in which they are living. There is growing evidence for trauma-informed social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) interventions that foster a sense of empowerment and enable positive personal- and community-level outcomes. However, in the face of challenges such as short-term funding cycles, such programs are hard to sustainably implement and evaluate over time, even where they demonstrate promise. This article reflects on a successful experience of integrating the Family Wellbeing empowerment program into an existing child and family support organisation. It presents the essential elements for integrating a SEWB program as a conceptual model and highlights the implications for sustainable implementation of promising SEWB programs in new settings.

IMPLICATIONS

• Integrating promising SEWB programs into the work practices of existing service organisations creates opportunities for longer term program sustainability and evaluation.

• Having Indigenous people leading the integration of SEWB programs has profound benefits in advancing knowledge and practice when working with Indigenous children and families.

• A conceptual model contributes to an area where more research and practice evidence is needed.

孩童时期的创伤经历会影响终身。对于原住民来说，可以通过保护性因素如与家庭及国家的关联、通过掌控自己在社会政治环境中的命运来克服这种影响。越来越多的证据表明，创伤类社会情感福利（SEWB）干预措施可以培养能力意识，并达到积极的个人和社区层面的效果。不过，面对短期的融资周期的挑战，这类项目很难持续实施并随时评估，即便它们看着很有潜力。笔者思考了将家庭福利赋权计划与现行的儿童及家庭支持组织整合的成功经验，并介绍了整合作为观念模式的SEWB计划的基本要素，还特别讨论了新环境中持续实施SEWB的意义。

KEYWORDS:

• Cross-cultural Social Work
• Social and Emotional Wellbeing
• Evidence-based Practice
• Trauma

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Lowitja Institute; the Centre of Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement in Indigenous Primary Health Care (CRE-IQI) under Grant [NHMRC ID 1078927]; and in kind support from James Cook University, The Cairns Institute, and Act for Kids.