Identifying and addressing poor parenting skills in Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties /

Abstract

Poor parenting among families in the Tri-County Area is a problem. The TriCounty Area includes Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties, Ohio. The purpose of this study is to examine parenting skills by addressing mental health issues and substance abuse issues. The ultimate aim of this research is to provide parents a resource tool with the goal of improving the continuum of wellness in behavioral health, in the form of a parent handbook. It is the researcher's goal to make the material in this handbook available to families in these communities following the extensive research of related topics. Researchers have indicated that contributing factors to poor parenting can include, but are not limited to, poverty, single parent families, and minimal educational levels. The Tri-County Area has a moderate amount of people who have these risk factors. In addition, researchers have shown that the social environment of an individual impacts his or her overall health status, and that the success of a society depends on what happens in the home. Therefore, this research will focus on the areas of home and family structure, social and emotional development, violence, grief, suicide, sexuality, and children with special needs. Stakeholders of the Tri-County Area contracted with the Lewin Group, Inc. to perform an in-depth study of the health care status of residents in the Tri-County Area. This study served as a catalyst by providing information needed to reach a consensus on an agenda for a health system change. The statistics used for this research were based on the factbook compiled by the Lewin Group (1999) for the Community Health Initiative of the Tri-County Area. The researcher has shown that a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Subcommittee of Community Health Initiative can stimulate effective networking of a variety of existing but independent services to children. The enthusiastic participation of concerned professionals from all three counties was justification of this assumption. The members are an exemplary example of a community effort designed to meet the needs of families in the target population. In addition, the researcher has shown that a Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Subcommittee of Community Health Initiative can promote improvement of parenting styles through support and guidance of community professionals to develop and implement a comprehensive and integrated mental health and substance abuse prevention and education program, in the form of a standardized parent resource handbook. The members successfully worked together to select outcomes, create the evaluation mechanism, and implement and make necessary revisions, showing the enormous success of the entire process. Their belief that this initiative will become a model for comprehensive wellness plans throughout Ohio was proven in the completion of the standardized parent resource handbook, which is due to be printed in early 2003, the planned target date. The parent handbook will be used as a final tool by parents and professionals in the Tri-County Area to attempt to break the cycle of mental health disorders and alcohol and drug abuse.