Steve Russell talks to Nicky Doherty, Programme Manager at Relationships Matter, an innovative, multi-agency project tackling the devastating longterm impact of family conflict.
The world has changed in so many ways since the COVID-19 crisis began, but among the most difficult challenges for many households during lockdown has been negotiating increased tensions within family relationships. Social media has been awash with jokes addressing the lighter side of the situation, but behind the memes lies a more serious issue. A 2017 NHS survey highlighted a strong link between how effectively a family communicates and the quality of children’s mental health. The study echoes previous research, which has shown that this not only affects children in the short term, but in many cases, throughout their life.
For many of us, the gradual journey back to something resembling normality will likely yield an improvement in our relationships, but what of families living in households where a lack of effective communication extends well beyond the stresses of lockdown? Recognising the importance of the issue, and both the human and financial costs associated with poor family communication, the government set up the national Reducing Parental Conflict Programme (known as Relationships Matter in the North East) in 2019, pledging up to £39m in funding for England.
Developed by the DWP, it features eight face-to-face intervention techniques aimed at improving parental communication. In the north of our region, the programme is led by Relate, alongside Gateshead Council, Action for Children and Changing Futures North East. This covers Sunderland, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland and South Tyneside, while Changing Futures North East leads the programme covering Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Hartlepool.
North East Programme Manager, Nicky Doherty of Relate, elaborates: “The project was set up in response to lots of research which shows just how much of an impact parental conflict can have on a child’s life chances. This includes their physical and mental wellbeing into adulthood, but it can also affect a person’s ability to hold down a job, so it has a major impact both socially and in economic terms.”
The North East programme is focused on four of the eight interventions, which are delivered in a mix of couple and group formats. They range from ‘Family Check Up’, a short-term intervention delivered over three or four sessions, to ‘Incredible Years’, a more in-depth parenting programme requiring up to a six-month commitment. There are also two medium-term interventions which focus on parenting under pressure and parenting when separated. The project was just beginning to hit its stride when the COVID-19 crisis emerged, so how have the service’s practitioners negotiated the challenges of lockdown?
Nicky explains: “We’re a face-to-face service, so it’s been difficult, but we’ve adopted a range of measures such as the use of Zoom and Microsoft Teams to continue to support parents, and although there will always be a certain percentage of people who can’t or won’t engage with remote technologies, we’ve still been able to deliver vital interventions to many parents experiencing conflict with a lot of success.”
The service is available to parents or primary carers who have at least one child aged 0-18 years or a child with a disability, aged 0-25 years, or be expecting a first child. It’s also available to young parents who are under the age of 18. One parent must live, work or use services within the North East region.
Relationships Matter has an initial two-year lifespan, which will run until mid-2021. By defining and testing specific interventions, the aim is to build an evidence base of effective strategies, which will inform future practice. Despite the obstacles caused by lockdown, there is tangible evidence that the service is making a real difference to people’s lives. At the beginning of the process, parents are asked to set goals specific to their own circumstances, then chart their progress towards those goals as the programme develops. Case studies have shown that many participants have reported significant improvements in their relationships. Tellingly, one participant described the service as a “safety net”, and it’s the sort of safety net many more families are likely to need as the pandemic and its aftermath continue to exert unprecedented pressure on all aspects of domestic life.
