Aim: This study aims to evaluate the impact of a novel multicomponent nutrition education program (United for Healthier Kids; U4HK) on the diet consumed during school lunch among preschool children. Methods: The program comprised four tools: hero plates, hero content, hero menus, and hero books and stickers. The program was implemented for 16…

This article provides the reader with an overview of the literature relating to family support services while highlighting a number of key issues for consideration in evaluating these diverse and complex interventions. Drawing on a case example of a family support service evaluation carried out in Ireland in 2014 by the authors, this article will…

Transferring an evidence-based parenting programme for parents exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) and their children with emotional and behavioural problems reveals the extent to which cultural and social aspects can interfere with the programme's effectiveness. Feasibility studies are of value in such circumstances, and the aim of the…

The aim of this paper is to report on the evaluation of two standardised training programmes provided by the statutory children and family service in the Republic of Ireland in 2012. This involved an evaluation of Children First Basic Level Training, which was delivered to all staff employed in the statutory services, and Keeping Safe, Basic Level…

A recommendation from the Social Work Task Force was that all employers of social workers should conduct a regular "health check" of the social work profession to learn from practice as part of a continuous cycle of improvement. This article documents how the London Borough of Tower Hamlets has gone about this. I describe the…

This article draws on qualitative evidence from an evaluation of the "Greater Tomorrow" Crèche and Ballyhaunis Community Preschool in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, Ireland in 2016. The article focuses on the approach to practice and the underlying ethos of these two services, reflecting a clearly articulated respect for diversity and the…

Bullying remains a significant issue in the lives of many children and young people at school and can have serious negative implications for emotional health and well-being in the short and longer term. This paper reports on an impact evaluation of the effectiveness of a school counselling intervention in promoting positive change in the peer…

Street children are the most excluded group of people in any society. The general attitude towards them is to criminalise and pathologise. The "To-gather with Children Project" (TCP) has been developed by the Maltepe University Research and Application Centre for Street Children (SOYAC) in Istanbul and implemented in conjunction with the…

Recently in Ireland attention has been placed on the importance of parental involvement in early childhood care and education settings as seen in the Síolta Quality Standards and Aistear Curriculum Framework. Yet there is little Irish empirical evidence on parental involvement in childcare settings; on the involvement models being used, or on the…

Children who are looked after experience significantly higher levels of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties than children who live with their family of origin. Such difficulties tend to be pervasive and can have detrimental consequences for placement stability, and ultimately for the child's ability to reach their potential. Government…

This article reports on a pilot study undertaken in order to explore the impact of a home-based parenting intervention (Parents Plus), on parents and families. Parents Plus is part of a Welsh Early Years strategy called Flying Start and aims to promote positive parent-child interactions. This article explores the medium-term to long-term impact of…

An innovative crisis intervention programme was created at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Canada in order to provide emergency assessments for youth presenting with mental health crises. The current investigation presents an overview of the programme and examines the emergency staff's perception and satisfaction with it.…

This article explores the interface between adult mental health issues and child development. It refers to the literature on the impact of parental mental health difficulties on children's developmental trajectories. The article then describes a pilot scheme involving a partnership between the Northern Ireland Association of Mental Health and…

The article is based on a practice task, which was completed as part of the Higher Diploma/Masters in Family Support Studies at NUI Galway. The practice task explored in this article was conducted in a residential care unit that specialised in working with children and families. The care team based in the unit strived to provide more than…

Services for families caring for a child with a learning disability are changing to become more family-centred, focusing not only on the child's needs but on those of the whole family. An evaluation of a newly developed Families Project in one Health and Social Service Trust area in Northern Ireland aimed to identify the impact on parents and ways…