Description
Conduct disorders are the most common reason for referral of children to the professional services in the field of mental health and represent an increasing and a long-term financial burden for society. Consistent evidence exists which prove that disorders can be prevented and treated if one intervenes early. This project introduces an evidence-based programme for prevention and early intervention of conduct problems through parenting training. In a pilot project, parental trainings will be offered to 300 parents of children from 3-8 years in five Slovenian regions. With the help of the Norwegian project partners we will train a team of at least 20 professionals to implementat the programme in 10 centres nationwide. These will come from three different agencies: children's mental health, social services and local authorities. The target groups that will benefit from the project are children with conduct disorders and their parents, experts in the field of mental health and the community. The experience from the project will be used to plan the future implementation of similar programmes in Slovenia.
Summary of project results
The project introduced the first evidence based parenting program for prevention and treatment of child behavioural problems and enhancement of positive parenting skills in Slovenia. Encouraging project results have lead to the support of the three Slovenian Ministries towards the implementation of the introduced program in Slovenia. The main aim of the project was to support the mental health of children and their families through introducing an evidence- based parenting program for preventing and reducing behaviour problems in Slovenia. The project objective was fully reached. The Incredible Years program was proved to be well transferable to the Slovenian context, well appreciated by the Slovenian parents and found as very needed in the agencies, such as child mental health services, child protection services, as well as local communities. We managed to introduce the program as positive and non-stigmatized among the Slovenian parents. We were able to reach parents in 10 different Slovenian regions, to address both men and women and to reach socially deprived parents and families as well. The parents who attended the program assessed that the behavioural problems of their children have lessened substantially. There were ten centres established to deliver the program and 45 experts were trained as group leaders. 30 parenting groups were delivered and the total number of parents who attended the program exceeded the plan. The Incredible Years program was offered to the beneficiaries for free and was as such equally accessible to everyone. Parents have been invited to participate in the programs through the media, leaflets distribution and personal contacts with the professionals. The program delivered has a clear structured content that includes discussions, video observations, role-playing and home activities. One of the important features of the program is its emphasis on group support, on making parents feel understood and supported and on noticing and celebrating every progress on their way. Through the partnership with Norwegian University we managed to organize regular team consultations and supervisions for the group leaders. Slovenian group leaders managed to improve their knowledge and expertise in an effective process of group and individual consultations. By the end of the project two Slovenian group leaders completed the group leaders certification process. One of them has started the education to become a peer coach and continue to train new Slovenian group leaders in the future.
Summary of bilateral results
The bilateral cooperation enabled us to organize two visits of a Norwegian expert, who offered supervision and consultation to the Slovenian colleagues working on the Incredible Years program. The bilateral project enables to prolong the Norwegian support of the Slovenian group leaders that was crucial for sustainability of the project. Consultations were offered also to the project leader in building the pyramid of our own professional consultation team in the near future. As in Slovenia there is no one with long-term experiences with the Incredible Years project and no accredited supervisor, these visits were crucial for the ascertaining the quality of the delivery of the program. The bilateral funds further strengthen the collaboration and the sustainability of the program. The bilateral partnership supported further delivery of the project and build the further important steps toward the long lasting implementation of the project.