This is a public health program to help all parents and caregivers of children and adolescents aged 0 to 17 years in a community. The objectives are to improve parenting skills and prevent or alter dysfunctional parenting practices to reduce risk factors for violence and emotional and behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence.
The program is delivered to the community at different levels of service intensity:
1) At the universal prevention level, social media campaigns are conducted to destigmatize parents in need of effective parenting guidance, and training content is delivered to parents on effective parenting strategies accessible to all who are interested in applying them.
2) At the selective prevention level, a set of mass seminars is conducted for all parents, complemented by short consultation interviews for parents who have children with minor behavioral problems. The content of the seminars and interviews is previously defined in operating manuals.
3) At the next level, small groups are organized for parents whose children have behavioral problems. Training workshops on positive parenting are held, using techniques that are easy to apply in practice. Conversation and exchange of experiences among parents facilitates the learning of new parenting strategies.
4) At the intensive level, the intervention using group workshops on positive parenting from the previous level is applied, but it is complemented with a set of individual sessions of assistance to parents. These additional individualized reinforcement sessions can be carried out by telephone.