ElfE²

Parents Asking Parents²: From Model Project to the Field

Project duration: 01/02/2018 - 31/12/2022

Principal investigator: Prof. Dr. Gesine Bär

Project staff:

• Ina Schaefer
• Azize Kasberg (unti 30/10/18)
• Anna Wahl (01/10/2020 until 31/03/2021)
• Katharina Katsch (01/11/2018 until 31/05/2021)
• Daphne Junski (01/07/2021 until 31/01/2022)
• Zoé Speltz (01/11/2021 until 30/04/2022)
• Anna Blankenburg (since 15/03/2022)

Partners:

• Bezirk Marzahn-Hellersdorf von Berlin
• Jugendwerk Aufbau Ost JAO gGmbH 

“Parents Asking Parents²: From Model Project to the Field” is a subproject of the Research Consortium PartKommPlus - Healthy Communities Through Integrated, Participatory Health Promotion Germany. PartKommPlus is a project of the German Network for Participatory Health Research (PartNet).

Documents/ Downloads:

• ElfE Poster
• Dialogue card
• Poster "The workshop process on participatory work"
• Poster "Participatory research - publications and project conclusions from ASH Berlin"

Abstract:
The second funding period was held under the title “Parents Asking Parents²: From Model Project to the Field” [abbreviation in German ElfE²) which was a continuation of the first funding period “ElfE: Parents Asking Parents”. Elfe² was initiated by the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences which cooperated with the two partners: local municipality Marzahn-Hellersdorf (Berlin) and Jugendwerk Aufbau Ost JAO gGmbH. Analogous to the first funding period a community advisory board was set.

Embedded in the overall aim of the research project to support health equity with parents with pre-school children living in the district Marzahn-Hellersdorf (Berlin) as peer-researcher, the focus of the second funding period was on the further development and dissemination of products and instruments derived from results and experiences of the research process of the first funding period.

As a main project component/target, strategies for the structural anchoring of the participation of parents in local planning and decision-making processes were developed based on a peer-research process. Therefore, a compact workshop format was developed and tested to facilitate parents and professionals. According to the peer-research-approach, parents from the first funding parents were trained to conduct the workshops with newly recruited parents and professionals, supported by the project cooperation-partners. Key themes of the research workshops were “relationships at eye level”, “information and transparency” and “participation and parents councils”.

Another key component of ElfE² was the composition of a handbook that consists of a step by step instruction on how to facilitate and implement parents’ participation in planning and development processes at a municipal level. The foundation of the handbook was formed by the developed and tested workshop format as an organisational model for enabling parents’ participation.

Furthermore, as a result of the workshop and a constant reflexion of experiences, dialogue formats were developed that can be used as an instrument for the promotion of relationships between parents and professionals in the childcare setting. Moreover, the dialogue formats and the handbook were rolled out to different key players at the local level and online.

A comprehensive overview of all publications and results of the first and second project funding period is accessible on the open access publication server aliceOpen of the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences.

Publications/Presentations:
(First and second funding period)

Funding: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Key words: Participatory Research, Peer Research, Integrated Municipal Strategy, Promoting Health Equity