Strengthen the awareness, knowledge and skills of health and social care professionals to promote sensitive and responsive parenting in vulnerable families during the first 1,000 days.
Context
The NEST project stems from the need to strengthen the skills of health and social care professionals working with vulnerable families during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, a crucial phase for family development and well-being. In many European countries, the dominant model of perinatal care is heavily medicalised and tends to neglect parent-infant mental health (PIMH), despite research showing that it is just as crucial as medical care for promoting healthy development.
At the same time, the weakening of informal support networks and the decline in parental well-being during the perinatal period increase new parents’ sense of isolation. Socially vulnerable families – often affected by financial difficulties, poor housing conditions or a lack of social support – face even greater risks, which can negatively impact children’s emotional and social development.
The first 1,000 days represent a window of opportunity to support families, yet many professionals report feeling inadequately prepared to address these issues. NEST addresses this need by developing practical tools and training programmes to strengthen sensitive and responsive parenting (SRP) and parent-child mental health, promoting more effective support for vulnerable families and better long-term developmental outcomes.
Objectives
- Build communities of professionals and parents to identify shared needs and make the Sensitive and Responsive Parenting programme accessible and relevant.
- Develop and pilot a practical Sensitive and Responsive Parenting toolkit, complete with a practical guide to support vulnerable families.
- Develop and pilot a specialised training programme to integrate sensitive and responsive parenting and parent-child mental health into everyday practice.
- Integrate NEST materials into existing training programmes and develop a framework for measuring social impact.
Activities
- Action learning team meetings with parents.
- Action learning team meetings with professionals.
- Toolbox piloting.
- SRP training piloting.
Resources
- Synthesis report mapping exercise
- National checklist with needs, conditions and priorities
- Transnational checklist with needs, conditions and priorities
- Toolbox to empower parents and support sensitive and responsive parenting
- SRP training trajectory for professionals
- Newsletters
Impact
- Involvement of professionals and parents – Creation of six communities of professionals and six of parents in the partner countries, fostering collaboration and the exchange of experiences to improve support for vulnerable families.
- Professional skills development – Development of knowledge and skills regarding sensitive and responsive parenting (SRP) and parent-child mental health through practical tools and training programmes.
- Awareness-raising and dissemination – Increased awareness of the importance of the first 1,000 days of life through communication activities, dissemination of materials and the involvement of organisations and communities.
- Sustainable changes in practices and policies – Integration of findings into professional training and service practices, with the development of evidence-based policies and interventions to support families.
Partners
- KATHOLIEKE HOGESCHOOL VIVES ZUID (Belgium, coordinator)
- Federons Les Villes Pour La Sante (France)
- Harokopio University (Greece)
- CESIE ETS (Italy)
- Tampere University (Finland)
- Universitatea Babes Bolyai (Romania)
