Online parenting support

Clear and inclusive online communication about parenting

Raising a child is not easy. Although parents generally feel satisfied with their role as educators, there are many moments of doubt and a need for support. Traditionally, support for parents is based on support programs that focus on dialogue and interaction, or by sharing knowledge and insights in more distant ways (books, websites, etc.). In addition, there has been a remarkable increase in online forms of parenting support in recent years. International research points to the importance and possibilities of online parenting support. Parents have more and more questions about parenting and are looking for information and social support online. They are satisfied with the information they find, but they are looking for reliable online information. In addition, there is little understanding of how low-income parents use the internet for social support, which seems to confirm the digital divide.

We know that socially vulnerable parents report more support needs. However, research into parenting support pays little attention to vulnerable parents. There is little or no insight into whether/how that online support reaches end users in the desired and effective manner and that support is therefore actually experienced as supportive, in particular with regard to what vulnerable parents need in terms of online parenting support. Online help should be meaningful to every user, but a number of issues such as language, accessibility and comprehensibility require extra attention in order to reach vulnerable parents. With vulnerable parents we refer to their socially vulnerable situation: parents who are not linguistic or low literate, parents in poverty, parents with a migration background.

The Flemish Expertise Center for Parenting Support (EXPOO) agrees that there is little insight into how to reach vulnerable parents with parenting needs. The present project will therefore specifically focus on these vulnerable groups of parents in order to develop a generic offer that can be supportive for all parents. 'Inclusive communication' is the guiding principle here: if it is understandable for vulnerable parents, it is understandable for all parents. This research aims to gain innovative insights into reaching vulnerable parents through online parenting support. Together with EXPOO, this is immediately put into practice by developing a digital platform that actually reaches all parents, including vulnerable parents. This platform focuses primarily on low-threshold parenting support, but (if desired) also offers the option of working in stages. This step-by-step operation allows us to guide the first steps towards second-line care or specialized help.

The research question is therefore: 'In what way can all parents, and specifically also parents in a socially vulnerable situation, be digitally supported in the upbringing of their children?'

Two sub-questions are addressed: 'What are the needs and wishes of vulnerable parents in terms of digital parenting support?' and 'What are effective factors in digital parenting support to support (vulnerable) parents?'.

Goals

1. A substantiated knowledge base about the needs and wishes of all parents with regard to online parenting support.
2. A platform as a standard example for online parenting support, based on the existing portals EXPOO but developed according to well-founded principles.
3. A guide 'Online parenting support' for organizations that have a pedagogical offer.