Title
FOCUS for Early Childhood: A Virtual Home Visiting Program for Military Families With Young Children
Date
2015
Author(s)
Catherine Mogil, Nastassia Hajal, Ediza Garcia, Cara Kiff, Blair Paley, Norweeta Milburn, and Patricia Lester
Brief Type
Journal Publication
Model(s)
- Other Models
Description
The risk for mental health problems and relational difficulties in military service members, spouses, and children is well-established. Yet, few services are available for families, particularly during the formative preschool years, when healthy parent–child relationships are crucial to the attainment of major socio-emotional milestones that form the foundation for later development. This paper describes the adaptation of a previously established military and trauma-informed preventive intervention, Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS) for use with families with a preschool-aged child (FOCUS for Early Childhood; FOCUS-EC). Grounded in theory and research on family resilience, FOCUS-EC aims to support parents as leaders of the family by providing developmental guidance and psychoeducation on deployment and reintegration, facilitate the construction of a family narrative, and enhance parenting strategies and the parent–child relationship. Furthermore, FOCUS-EC was adapted for use in a telehealth platform, enabling clinicians to reach military and veteran families in their homes, which is particularly useful for high-risk civilian-dwelling military families (including Reserve and National Guard). Pilot work and ongoing data collection as part of a randomized control trial suggest that FOCUS-EC is acceptable and feasible for military and veteran families with preschoolers. (author abstract)
Data Collection Methods
- Participant observations
Status
Finished
For More Information
Mogil, C., Hajal, N., Garcia, E., Kiff, C., Paley, B., Milburn, N., & Lester, P. (2015). FOCUS for early childhood: A virtual home visiting program for military families with young children. Contemporary Family Therapy, 37(3), 199-208. doi: 10.1007/s10591-015-9327-9
Author Contact Information:
Catherine Mogil
cmogil@mednet.ucla.edu
Topics
- Participant Characteristics
- Program Enhancements, Innovations, and Promising Approaches