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Pilot study investigating pathway for practitioner engagement with whānau during a self-control activity: Implications for uptake in the home and for empowered engagement.
Abstract
There is a gap in youth mentoring services using the home environment of at-risk youth to encourage development of the skills worked on within mentoring. This thesis explores whether a game-based intervention situated in the home environment of youth may initiate changes in behaviour that coincide with their learning during mentoring. Participants were recruited through a private youth mentoring service within Whāngarei. Participants included whānau of youth who are enrolled in the Awhi Ako youth mentoring service and their respective mentors. The Awhi Ako mentoring service aims to support youth through their selected needs by a wider wraparound service.
A game was picked to introduce to whānau to play together at home. This game contained a mechanism that may reward self-control behaviours. Whānau were interviewed and asked to discuss their child’s self-control behaviours before the introduction of the game and any changes after playing the game.
A principal focus of this thesis is on practitioner engagement with the whānau of mentored youth. Practitioner engagement with communities and people is an integral value underpinning Community psychology. Whānau within the youth mentoring service include Māori, Pasifika, Pākehā and mixed ethnic backgrounds. A core focus of this thesis is understanding the relationship between practitioner and participants and how this impacts upon uptake of the introduction of the activity. In accordance with community psychology underpinnings and values of cultural awareness, cultural respect and understanding this thesis aspires to provide evidence towards the importance of this relationship. Another key focus of this thesis is comprehending the multifaceted effects of an intervention within the home environment and how this impacts mentors, the home environment and the development of youth. Emphasizing a fundamental principle of community psychology of interconnectedness between all facets of a persons life.
The conclusions drawn from this thesis illustrate the importance of developing a relationship with whānau a key focus to their willingness to participate and actively engage in this pilot study. The findings from this pilot study indicate that whānau experienced hardship and that whānau within at-risk environments had competing priorities that impeded the introduction of home-based activities.
Type
Thesis
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Date
2024
Publisher
The University of Waikato
Supervisors
Rights
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