Professional Skills in Family Support: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Family support encompasses a wide variety of professionals, sectors, and intervention paradigms that make it difficult to systematize and standardize the skills needed by the family support workforce. The present study aimed to describe the relevant skills of professionals, organize the main skills into different categories, and contribute to the development of intervention standardization guidelines in the field of family support. So, a systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. The search was carried out in five databases and included the analysis of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies, and all studies were qualitatively assessed. Of the initial 3334 articles identified, 59 studies were included, and four categories were identified: professionals’ qualities, essential skills common to all professions and contexts, specific knowledge, and theoretical approaches necessary for family support. Most of the studies were from the United Kingdom, qualitative, published in the last 10 years, used small samples, and included a specific group of professionals. The included studies did not specify whether some skills or characteristics were considered more effective in practice, and they had bias issues related to social desirability. The implications for family support practice are discussed, as well as the gaps to be covered in future studies.

Promoting family wellbeing through parenting support in ECEC services: parents' views on a model implemented in Ireland

“…The quantitative data collected also indicated that most participants highly agreed with having their interests and needs considered by the Facilitator. Mutual listening, openness, and adaptability towards families' needs and strengths can potentiate establishing trustful relationships with families, which has been identified as pivotal to enhancing the outreach and implementation quality of family and parenting support interventions (Anders et al, 2019;Cohen et al, 2020;dos Santos et al, 2024;Jiménez et al, 2024). Furthermore, integrating relational practices (e.g., approachability and listening to families) and participatory practices (e.g., replying to the concerns and priorities of families) into how practitioners work with families can positively impact parent, family, and child behaviour and functioning (Dunst et al, 2007).…”