Family Support and Children’s Health and Wellbeing

Dear colleagues,

Research has proven that family is the primary context for the development and wellbeing of the new generation, and parenting is a resource that must be supported. Governments are encouraged to support direct caregivers, and wider kin and friend support networks, in the exercise of their childrearing functions. Balancing this is the central position of children’s rights at the forefront of modern social policies. Reflecting both orientations, family support as a child welfare measure is a social priority for government bodies, as the available evidence supports its effectiveness in promoting child wellbeing and health, particularly in disadvantaged family contexts.

The academic challenge for family support as a frontier-knowledge domain is to integrate research and thinking from the multiple approaches of different disciplines, professional and academic, that constitute the field. There is need for a shared body of knowledge that can embed this diversity and be responsive to the realities and needs derived from current existing family support schemes and family realities in order to promote children’s health and wellbeing. Thus, despite advances in this field, family support services require more advanced evidence and culturally informed approaches that offer practitioners effective programs and practice toolkits which are relevant for specific family contexts. There is a strong need to inform public policy and standards of practice via the emerging body of family support knowledge.

This Special Issue aims to showcase the variety and relevance of recent advances in the field of family support as a child welfare measure to promote children’s health and wellbeing, with a focus on public policy and standards of practice. Potential topics include but are not limited to advances in:

• Family dimensions related to children’s health and wellbeing, with a focus on implications for family support;
• Evidence- and/or culturally informed family intervention initiatives aimed at promoting children health and wellbeing;
• Family support conceptualization, with a focus on its implications for the public policy;
• Validation of measures relevant in the field of family support as a child welfare action.

Dr. Lucía Jiménez
Prof. John Canavan
Dr. George Spiel
Dr. Nevenka Zegarac
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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