Family support workforce skills : pathways towards (new) conceptualizations

Žegarac, Nevenka (author), Mešl, Nina (author), Burgund Isakov, Anita (author), Buciuceanu-Vrabie, Mariana (author), Antunes, Ana (author), Nunes, Cristina (author)

Professionals working in different areas of family support have diverse conceptual assumptions and epistemological frameworks. Thus, a common conceptualization of family support workforce skills presents major research and practical challenge. Beyond general recognizability, a growing knowledge base and interests, there is still no generally accepted concept of what family support is as a practice, policy, and theoretical construct. This paper attempts to conceptualize the skills for the practice of family support in different professions and social sectors through several research approaches. Initially, we analyzed the content of websites with international organizations’ resources about skills in family support. Second, we systematically reviewed literature using the PRISMA method. Last, we reviewed literature, including professional handbooks and publications. The content analysis and systematic literature reviews indicate that as an interdisciplinary concept, family support workforce skills are generally familiar, but not defined nor specified and differentiated from other skills used in the broad field of work with families. So, to deepen the knowledge on family support workforce skills and reach a reliable consensus, the Delphi method was used with a series of questionnaires at different stages of research. Results indicate that specific core and field-specific skills become family supportive when they are applied in the contexts of strength and relationship-based approach as well as both – whole family and child-centred approach. That has opened up new possibilities for more precise definitions, recognisability and transferability of family support skills and construction of a conceptual model.

• Language: English
• Keywords: conceptual framework, family support, practitioners’ skills, workforce, Delphi study
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FSD - Faculty of Social Work
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2024
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 1-9
• Numbering: Vol. 163, [art. no.] ǂ107777
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-167439
• UDC: 364-055.5/.7
• ISSN on article: 0190-7409
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107777
• COBISS.SI-ID: 200761091
• Publication date in RUL: 21.02.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Children and youth services review
• Shortened title: Child. youth serv. rev.
• Publisher: Pergamon Press
• ISSN: 0190-7409
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1211669

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: družina, podpora in pomoč, svetovanje, strokovni delavci