According to government data, there is a slow decline in foster care in Italy, especially for teenagers, caused by an insufficient number of available foster families. The need to provide an intense ...stimulus to foster care is evident. This study conducted individual qualitative interviews with 126 foster parents of teenagers, transcribed and analysed using Atlas.ti software. Valuable indications for social services were individuated. The importance of the foster parents' intrinsic motivations and the suggestion for social services to emphasize them in the recruitment campaigns were reaffirmed. The appropriateness of directing the proposal towards foster parents with previous experience in parenting, foster parenting or working with teenagers was also confirmed. Additionally, results revealed that foster parents connected to foster parents' associations/networks and religious groups are preferred. The importance of the relationship between foster parents and social services and suitable support for the ongoing fostering is pivotal. Establishing a relationship based on trust and the diffusion of the foster care invitation through testimonies and word‐of‐mouth was also highlighted. The initiatives promoting spaces and occasions for teens needing foster care and potential candidates for fostering to meet them have promising outcomes.
COVID-19
pandemic has changed everyday life and medical supervision of chronically ill
patients. Epidemiological measures, social distancing, and limited access to
medical care impair glycemic ...control in patients with diabetes. Also, type 2
diabetes is a risk factor for more severe form of coronavirus disease. A large
proportion of diabetic patients are placed in foster families who also adapt to
the new situation. The purpose of this study was to examine the manner and frequency
of glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes who are placed in foster
families in the region of Brod- Posavina County. We established contact with
patients suffering from type 2 diabetes situated in foster families and their caregivers.
Measurement of glycemia was performed several times a day with regular notes
and the data were supplemented by an insight into the medical documentation of
patients in the hospital information system. The study included 33 patients
with type 2 diabetes. The relationship between HbA1C with fasting and
postprandial glycemia was linear. There were no statistically significant
differences in HbA1C regulation by type of therapy. There was a significant
difference in the number of complications according to the level of HbA1C (Hi
square test = 25.982, p <.001). The number of complications generally
increased as HbA1C regulation was poorer. During current COVID-19 pandemic,
care for patients with type 2 diabetes is significantly limited. Improved
medical care for patients can be achieved by establishing cooperation and daily
communication between caregivers, family physicians and, if necessary,
diabetologists, especially through the use of online platforms and telephone
communication, all with the aim of early detection of diabetes complications and
adequate treatment of patients in current conditions.
U novonastaloj situaciji pandemije COVID-19 svakodnevni život pacijenata s kroničnim bolestima značajno se promijenio. Poznato je da pacijenti s dijabetesom tipa 2 imaju veći rizik od razvoja komplikacija bolesti COVID-19 i u novim uvjetima pacijentima je puno teže obavljati redovite dijabetološke kontrole. Veliki dio takvih bolesnika smješten je u udomiteljske obitelji koje se također prilagođavaju novonastaloj situaciji. Svrha ovog istraživanja bila je ispitati način i učestalost kontrole glikemije u bolesnika s dijabetesom tipa 2 koji su smješteni u udomiteljske obitelji u Brodsko-posavskoj županiji. Studija je provedena na način da smo uspostavili kontakt s pacijentima koji boluju od dijabetesa tipa 2 koji se nalaze u udomiteljskim obiteljima i njihovim skrbnicima. Mjerenje glikemije provodilo se nekoliko puta dnevno redovitim bilješkama, a podaci su nadopunjeni uvidom u medicinsku dokumentaciju pacijenata u bolničkom informacijskom sustavu. Studija je obuhvatila 33 bolesnika s dijabetesom tipa 2. Povezanost HbA1C s glikemijom natašte i posprandijalnom glikemijom bila je linearna. Nije bilo statistički značajnih razlika u regulaciji HbA1C prema vrsti terapije. Postojala je značajna razlika u broju komplikacija prema razini HbA1C (Hi kvadrat test = 25.982, p <.001). Broj komplikacija općenito se povećavao jer je regulacija HbA1C bila lošija. U trenutnim uvjetima briga o pacijentima s dijabetesom tipa 2 značajno je ograničena. Bolji uvjeti za pacijente mogu se postići uspostavljanjem suradnje i svakodnevne komunikacije između njegovatelja, obiteljskih liječnika i, ako je potrebno, dijabetologa, posebno korištenjem mrežnih platformi i telefonske komunikacije, a sve u cilju ranog otkrivanja komplikacija dijabetesa i adekvatnog liječenja pacijenata u trenutnim uvjetima.
•Generally positive representations about foster families were found.•Foster families’ protective role was acknowledged.•The main enablers included the perceived protective role of foster care.•The ...main perceived barriers included the lack of individual and family resources.
Children and young people that need to be removed from their living environment should be preferably placed in a family care context, rather than in residential care homes. Given the scarcity of foster families in the child protection system, efforts to recruit new families may benefit from evidence about the representations, enablers, and barriers to become a foster family within community samples. The current qualitative study (N = 716, 79 % female, aged between 18 and 76 years old, Portugal) collected data from a set of free word association tasks and open questions about foster families. The results revealed mostly positive representations about foster families and their protective role for children in need (e.g., social appreciation of foster families), although some negative representations were also identified (e.g., ambivalence regarding the role of foster families). The main perceived drivers and enablers to become a foster family included the protective role of foster care (e.g., to promote child development), individual/family resources (e.g., economic resources), and other family factors (e.g., inability to have biological children). The main perceived barriers included the lack of individual and family resources (e.g., economic resources), individual and family constraints (e.g., emotional or health related factors), and constraints related with the foster care system (e.g., bureaucracy, difficulties regarding formal procedures). These findings provide inputs for further research on how to improve the recruitment and retention of new foster families.
Guided by the communicated sense-making (CSM) theoretical model (Koenig Kellas, J., & Kranstuber Horstman, H. (2015). Communicated narrative sense-making: Understanding family narratives, ...storytelling, and the construction of meaning through a communicative lens. In L. H. Turner, & R. West (Eds.), The sage handbook of family communication (2nd ed, pp. 76-90). Sage), the current study explored foster parent-child sense-making within conversations about the child's exit from the foster parent's care (i.e. foster exit conversations; henceforth, FECs). Specifically, this study examined the CSM devices animating FECs, as reported by 21 U.S. foster parents. Findings revealed the use of (a) accounts, including concessions, excuses, and justifications (b) CPT in the form of agreement, attentiveness, positive tone, and providing space to talk, and (c) transition metaphors in FECs. Findings highlight useful ways to facilitate sense-making, resilience, and coping for foster youth and families amid transitions. The conclusion discusses limitations and directions for future research.
The article presents a theoretical analysis of scientific literature on the problems of foster families raising children with disabilities, identifies the difficulties of parents in effectively ...solving the health problems of a child with disabilities caused by weak motivation, stress, and lack of experience, competencies, and relevant knowledge. This work investigated and identified the grounds for developing a typology of foster families raising children with disabilities and proposed a typology according to them. To achieve the research objective, the methods of interviews, expert assessments, and classification were used. The conclusion is that the developed typology can serve as the basis for representatives of the guardianship and wardship authorities when selecting an appropriate foster family for a child, and foster parents will be able to provide an appropriate training and education model for effective rehabilitation, correction, and health recovery of this category of children.
This study aims to analyse the interaction between children in foster care and their main caregivers during a microcoded co‐construction task, focusing on the verbal and non‐verbal behaviours that ...the adults use to promote a secure attachment in the child. It also examines how children and caregivers' socio‐demographic variables relate to the interaction. The sample is made up of 28 Spanish children between 4 and 9 years old in long‐term non‐kin foster care and their foster families. The building task was administered to 28 dyads, composed of the child and the main caregiver in each family. Our results showed that the caregivers' use of attachment‐facilitating behaviours was frequent during the interaction. Moreover, children tended to display a positive attitude when adults used these attachment‐facilitating behaviours. We also found some differences in the interaction according to the caregivers and children's age, the child's gender and the caregivers' satisfaction with the child's development. These results offer us a better understanding of the functioning of the adult–child relationships in foster families, which helps us make more efficient interventions to improve the caregivers' sensitivity towards the children's needs and difficulties.
COVID-19 is likely to have negatively impacted foster families but few data sources are available to confirm this.
The current study used Reddit social media data to examine how foster families are ...faring in the pandemic. Discussion topics were identified and examined for changes before and after COVID-19.
Comments were collected from three Reddit online discussion boards dedicated to foster families (N = 11,830).
We used machine learning techniques, including Latent Dirichlet Allocation, for topic modeling and textual analysis for qualitative coding of the Reddit comments.
Results showed that three main topics had both significant quantitative and meaningful qualitative changes before and after COVID-19. There were significant increases in conversation about becoming a foster parent (F = 5.75, p = 0.02) and activities for foster children (F = 10.61, p = 0.001), whereas there was a significant decrease in discussing permanency (F = 9.46, p = 0.003) before and after the onset of COVID-19. Qualitative coding showed that regarding the topic of becoming a parent, excitement over approval of foster care license before COVID-19 shifted to foster families' increased anxieties about delays in their licensing cases after COVID-19. For permanency, content changed from the best interest of the child and reunifications before COVID-19 to concerns over family separations and permanency challenges after COVID-19. Regarding activities for foster children, content related to everyday activities before COVID-19 changed to specific activities foster children and families could do during lockdowns. Results suggest areas child welfare workers may focus on to better support foster families during and after the pandemic.
Studies have examined factors that impact successful placements in foster care. Absent from this body of research, however, are factors that promote foster parent competence. The purpose of this ...study was to assess perceived competency of foster parents, subsequent to pre-service training, in tasks of foster parenting across 12 domains of foster parenting as recommended by previous research. The sample consisted of 20 foster parents who had completed foster parent training within the past five years. Although foster parents in this study rated themselves as competent in primary domains of foster parenting, there were mixed results as to their satisfaction and acceptance of demands of foster parenting in relation to foster family adjustment and working with a complex care system. Implications for therapeutic interventions are discussed.
► Foster parents rated themselves highly on the majority of competence domains. ► Competence ratings and open-ended responses disparate in findings. ► “Training/resources,” “system/support,” and “personal experiences” themes emerged.
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