HEAD START®

Caring for Children with
Chronic Conditions

Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community

Table of Contents | Preface | Introduction | Module 1 | Module 2 | Module 3
| Continuing Professional Development | Resources

MODULE 2: Activity 5 - Listening To Learn

Module 2 | Activity 1 | Activity 2 | Activity 3 | Key to Activity 3 | Activity 4 | Activity 5 | Activity 6 | Activity 7 | Next Steps

Purpose:

This activity helps Head Start staff get feedback from families' experiences to improve the care of children with chronic conditions. It is particularly useful for health and disabilities specialists.

For this activity you will need:

• Handouts R 1, 2, and 3: Interview Guidelines
  
  Coach's Note:
  This activity involves interviewing a Head Start family with a child with chronic conditions, at three different times across the program year, to help identify how to improve services.

Step 1:

Explain that we have many ways of learning how to improve our practices in Head Start–reviewing the Head Start Program Performance Standards, seeking guidance from supervisors, sharing strategies with co-workers, attending trainings, and reading written materials. These are good ways of learning, but they often leave out an important voice: that of individual families.

Step 2:

Review Handouts R 1-3: Interview Guidelines. Ask:

• Are these the questions that you want answered?
  

• Are there other aspects of the program that you want the family to comment on? If so, make changes to the interview guidelines.

Try to ask open-ended questions rather than those answered with "yes" or "no." Also, try to limit the number of questions so each interview will last less than an hour.

Step 3:

Select a family to interview. Explain to the family that you'd like their help to learn how the program can best serve children with chronic conditions and their families. Explain that you'd like to do three 1-hour interviews with them over the course of the year, at times and places that are convenient for them. Stress that the information is confidential, and they should participate only if they want to.

Step 4:

If the staff member is new to interviewing skills–engaging, listening, prompting for additional or more focused information–do a practice role-play interview. Then conduct the actual interviews.

Step 5:

Schedule follow-up meetings to review the family's feedback:

• What are the strengths of the program? Are there people or actions who merit acknowledgment for their excellent practice? Give it.
  
  
• How could the program improve? Make recommendations to the management team and Health Services Advisory Committee (HSAC).

Points to Consider:

• One family's story never tells the whole story of a program, but it can bring insight and point out possible problem areas. It also
  develops staff skills of listening and incorporating families' feedback into the program quality improvement.
  
  
• It is helpful to survey all families as they exit the program to get feedback about what is working well and what needs to be improved.