AN innovative project that uses video recordings of disaffected families to help get them back together should be rolled out across Scotland, experts have recommended.
Hilary Kennedy, a leading psychologist, called on the Scottish Government to fund a major expansion of the initiative, used in many councils, but often in a limited way. Under the project, developed in the Netherlands, parents who have a history of neglecting or abusing their children, or where offspring are at risk of going into care, are filmed playing with them.
The parents are shown the footage and any positive interaction, from eye contact to a physical touch, is highlighted and used as the basis for improving the relationship.
Although the technique is simple it has had some remarkable results. Mothers - many of whom have had long-term problems with drugs, alcohol or domestic violence - are able to see for the first time the natural bond that exists between themselves and their offspring.
Once the understanding of the bond has been established, it is much easier to develop the sort of parenting techniques many families take for granted - such as reading before bedtime or establishing a routine.
A recent study in Holland found just one session of Video Interactive Guidance (VIG) also had a significant impact on fathers, helping them to bond with their children from birth.
Mrs Kennedy, who helped develop the project while working as an educational psychologist in Dundee, called for a much wider adoption of VIG in Scotland. "It is something that has been introduced into Scotland before, but it is still very small at the moment and only just emerging in a number of small projects.
"The Scottish Government should be funding this in a universal way so we can get far more people trained up to use it, including health visitors. If you can get parents to attune to their children before major problems start to emerge then it will save an awful lot of money because these families can have normal lives."
Mrs Kennedy, an honorary lecturer at University College London, said a major reason for the success of the project was that those taking part were used to watching television and were therefore comfortable with the format and able to learn crucial lessons almost instinctively.
Fiona Williams, a senior educational psychologist with Glasgow City Council, said the success of the project is also that it is based on highlighting positive interactions for people who often see themselves in a very negative way and are used to being criticised.
"We work with parents who are often at risk of having their children taken away from them by social services, but don't know what to do about it," she said. "Many of them have also been badly parented and they are simply replicating what happened to them, but this allows them to break that cycle."
Stephen Curran, the council's executive member for education, said: "We are developing the video strategy because it is a highly valued resource that will benefit colleagues in education, health and social work."
Glasgow City Council is hosting a conference on the Video Interaction Guidance strategy on Thursday at the City Chambers.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article