Peer-reviewed article
Involving Parents in Prevention: A Case Example of Research and Intervention Development to Improve Financial Well-Being Support.
Nick Axford, Gisella Hanley, Rebecca Summers, Kristin Liabo, Amy Bond et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper describes how parents were involved in designing a financial well-being support service to be delivered through children's centres. Researchers used open events with 'silent conversations' and individual interviews to gather parent views on which families need support, how to make services accessible, delivery processes, and service content. The study shows how parent and public involvement can inform both immediate service redesign and future research aimed at improving outcomes for low-income families and children.
Key points
- Parents were engaged through two methods: open events with silent conversations and individual conversations held in one city
- Parents were asked to comment on four key issues: target families, accessibility, delivery processes, and service content
- The involvement process informed immediate redesign of an income maximisation service being adapted for local children's centres
- The research highlights the importance of engaging people not involved in services and involving them throughout projects
- Training and support for researchers and service providers was identified as necessary for respectful and meaningful involvement of people with lived experience of poverty
Limitations
The document does not provide evidence on whether the redesigned service actually improved parent and child outcomes, as it focuses on the co-design process rather than intervention evaluation. It is unclear which country or specific city context is described, and no data on participant numbers, demographics, or implementation outcomes are provided.
Abstract
The adverse effects on parent and child outcomes of poverty and stressors associated with low income are well established. With notable exceptions, however, the potential role of frontline services in improving family financial well-being is underexplored. This article outlines how patient and public involvement (PPI) was initiated early on in research on financial well-being support (FWbS). It illustrates how research can build on and integrate what parents say about services and how to research them. The involvement work was undertaken in one city in part to inform the adaptation of an income maximisation service to be delivered in local children's centres. Parents were involved using two approaches: open events with 'silent conversations', and individual conversations. Parents were invited to comment on four issues: which families should receive FWbS; how to make FWbS accessible; the process of delivering FWbS; and the nature or content of FWbS. The article describes how we approached parents via existing services, how conversations were facilitated and how parents' views informed the immediate service redesign and new research on FWbS to improve parent and child outcomes. It also identifies learning, for instance on engaging people not involved in services, involving people throughout a project and offering training and support for researchers and service providers around how to involve people with lived experience of poverty in respectful and meaningful ways.