Our Families Celebrate Conclusion of PFL Research Project
On Tuesday, 6th September, Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton TD, joined children and parents for a celebratory event to mark the conclusion of our eight-year random control trial research project into our Preparing for Life home visiting programme. The recently published research, carried out by the UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, has shown that children who took part in the programme had higher IQ scores, were less likely to be overweight and had fewer behavioural problems.
From 2008 to 2015, we worked with over 200 families in Dublin 5 and 17, supporting parents to get their children ready to start school by offering mentoring in the home to equip parents with the knowledge and skills to help their child develop and offering the Triple P Positive parenting course to parents of children aged two and over. We worked with families from pregnancy until their child entered Junior Infants. A research team from the UCD Geary Institute followed the journey of the participating families to determine if the supports would improve children’s school readiness. The project was funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
Speaking at the event, Preparing for Life Programme Manager, Emma Byrne-MacNamee described the impressive impact which the research has shown the programme has on the lives of participating children stating that, “Our research results have shown that children who received the Preparing for Life programme are smarter. By age 4, there was a 10 point IQ gap between the children who received the Preparing for Life programme and those that did not using a direct standardised cognitive test. We also found that children whose families took part in Preparing for Life are healthier with better diets and they are less likely to be overweight. 23% of children who received the programme were overweight compared with 41% of children who did not receive the programme. Children in the Preparing for Life programme were also found to be better behaved with just 2% suffering from behavioural problems at age four compared to 17% of children who didn’t receive the programme.”
Also speaking at the event, former Preparing for Life programme manager Noel Kelly praised the parents for their efforts to improve their children’s lives. “We know that you, the parents, have made changes in how you parent your children, including things like talking and listening to your children, having books and educational materials in your house, making your homes safer so children have less accidents, ensuring your children have a better diet, making sure your children have good routines such as regular bedtimes, less time watching TV and also by being consistent and positive in your parenting and following through on discipline. It is clear that the small day to day things that you did as parents, have all added together to make a big difference to your children,” he remarked.
The Preparing for Life Home Visiting Programme is currently available to all parents living in the areas of Belcamp, Bonnybrook, Darndale, Glin, Kilmore West and Moatview thanks to funding under the Area Based Childhood Programme from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and The Atlantic Philanthropies. To find out more, call us on 01-8771509.
