Community News & Updates

With the past few years bringing unprecedented hardship to all families, especially those with young and school-aged children, there has never been a greater need to provide support. The Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University has partnered with four mental health agencies across Ontario to launch a parenting and family support study called Promoting Healthy Families. The overall goal is to take a closer look at two parenting programs (Triple P and Circle of Security) and to understand if, and how, families can benefit from these programs.

Both the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) and Circle of Security Parenting Program (COSP) offer a structured way for parents and caregivers to develop practical skills to help decrease challenging behaviours and emotions in young children and help family relationships. By taking part in this study, parents and caregivers may find that they feel more positive about themselves and their caregiving skills, while providing valuable information on how we help other families in the future.

Our research team is committed to ensuring our programs are accessible to all families, with additional care to reach families who may face traditional barriers to services such as limited access to technology and wi-fi services. To ensure equal opportunity, our study will provide:

• Immediate, direct, and free-of-charge access to one of our parenting programs, led by highly qualified, trained service providers
• Access to iPad devices and internet for study visits, free of charge (upon request)
• Completely virtual service, in consideration of Covid-19 guidelines
• Compensation in gift cards upon completion of study visits
• Flexible scheduling of study visits to accommodate busy families

Our study is actively looking for families with children aged 2-6 years to enroll in this study. 

For more information, click here.