Building social capital in first-time parents through a group-parenting program: A questionnaire survey

Background Parents who are connected into strong family and community networks are said to have high social capital enabling them to provide a positive context where their childrenʹs social, emotional and educational needs are met. Objectives To identify parent satisfaction with, strengths and weaknesses of, opportunities to build social capital, and the impact of a two-course pilot health and relationship focused Parenting Education Program—PEPE, designed for first-time parents, on the core work of the well-child nurse/health visitor. Design Retrospective descriptive survey using postal questionnaires. Setting Twelve pilot parenting courses facilitated across five regions of New Zealand. Participants All parents (n=105) and clinical nursing staff (n=12) involved in the pilot parenting courses were invited to participate. Overall response rate was 82%. Methods Questionnaires developed by investigators were mailed to the eligible population. Numerical data was analysed using PC-SAS. Narrative data was subjected to thematic content analysis. Results Attendance at both parenting courses positively correlated with an increase in measures of social capital: development of strong social networks (82% Your New Baby course respondents: 95% CI, 75–89, and 98% Your Growing Baby course respondents: 95% CI, 96–100), and positive relationships with others (93% Your New Baby course respondents: 95% CI, 88–98, and 86% Your Growing Baby course respondents: 95% CI, 83–89). Increased confidence in respondentʹs parenting ability was also identified (96% Your New Baby course respondents: 95% CI, 92–100; 96% Your Growing Baby course respondents: 95% CI 93–99). Conclusions The PEPE programme was well accepted by first-time parents leading to significant improvements in development of social capital and parenting confidence. Well-child health nurses are in a prime position to foster social capital and help rebuild communities within which they work to enhance parenting outcomes.