Parent-to-Parent support providers: How recruits are identified

Area of Science:

• Disability Studies
• Social Work
• Psychology

Background:

• Parent-to-Parent programs offer crucial peer support for families navigating the challenges of raising children with disabilities.
• Effective selection of support parents is vital for program success and positive family outcomes.
• Informal identification of support parent attributes has historically guided recruitment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and examine the selection criteria for parents trained as support parents within Parent-to-Parent programs.
• To understand the attributes that make parents effective in providing peer support to other parents of children with disabilities.
• To explore characteristics associated with both suitable and unsuitable candidates for support parent roles.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative research methodology employed.
• Telephone interviews conducted with ten leaders of Parent-to-Parent programs.
• Exploration of attributes associated with parents selected for training as support parents.

Main Results:

• Parents deemed "ready" to be support parents exhibit relationship-building skills, positivity, capacity-building abilities, effective communication, future orientation, and a desire to contribute.
• "Red flags" or negative indicators for suitability were also identified, highlighting traits of parents not suited for support roles.
• Analysis revealed informal identification of key characteristics for effective support parents.

Conclusions:

• Parent-to-Parent support parents are identified through a distinct set of characteristics that can be formalized for screening.
• The findings underscore the positive impact of peer support relationships in disability services.
• There is a clear need for a standardized measure of parent "readiness" to enhance the recruitment of high-quality support parents.