49 out of 54 mothers attended at least 12 of the scheduled sessions. An evaluation by the Department of Health has shown that compared with other parenting programmes run in family centres the programme improves:
Quotes from mothers on completing a Mellow Parenting course.
| "Thank you – it's helped me and I hope in the future it helps other Mums" |
"It's about life, caring for others, learning how to cope with problems, trust" |
|
"Great – like I was a person in my own right again" |
"The group was a good confidence booster" |
These changes are sustained over an eighteen month follow up.
The emphasis is on parental engagement and empowerment, with built-in objectives and subjective measures of change.