Parental Support with Cultural Considerations for Parents from Somalia

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On Friday, December 8, Fatumo Osman defended her thesis at Karolinska Institutet.

Fatumo's thesis was entitled "Ladnaan - utvärdering av ett kulturanpassant föräldrastöd till somaliska föräldrar" (Ladnaan - an Evaluation of Culturally Adapted Parental Support for Parents from Somalia" (unofficial translation)) and looked at the effects of a parental-support programme that is culturally adapted with respect to the psychiatric health of parents born in Somalia and their children. It also looked at the experiences parents had with the programme and its effect on their parenting.

The programme showed itself to affect the parent-child relationship positively as well as the psychiatric health of parents and children. Yet parents who are born outside of Sweden are relatively inactive when it comes to participation in parental-support programmes that are given.

In short, the thesis demonstrated that the programme served to improve the psychiatric health of parents and their competence as parents while also reducing behavioural issues among their children. When parenting programmes are offered to parents who have migrated to a new country that is culturally quite different, it is important to consider their specific needs and to include cultural sensitivity in the programme.

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