Keam Georgia, Cook Kay, Sinclair Sarah, McShane Ian
Department of Social Sciences, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Health Promot J Austr. 2018 Apr;29(1):65-71. doi: 10.1002/hpja.4. Epub 2018 Jan 6.
Given that approximately half of all Australian families with children aged 2-3 years participate in playgroups, these settings may provide an important venue for social support and community capacity building. The aim of this study is to assess the benefits that parents and the wider community derive from such participation.
We examined community capacity building opportunities through qualitative interviews conducted with a self-selected sample of 33 playgroup participants. All participants were the child's biological mother, and many had been involved in the playgroup committee of management, including 11 participants who were currently, or had previously been, a playgroup coordinator.
We found that playgroups act as key sites for building community capacity through developing community connections, skill building and creating leadership pathways. We found that playgroup committee participation was often women's first foray into community volunteering, and often translated into future community leadership, such as kindergarten committees of management and primary school councils.
Community playgroups play a key role in building the capacity of communities and provide a vehicle for the development of new volunteers. SO WHAT?: Local governments, schools and other community organisations that rely on volunteer committees would benefit from providing support to community playgroups to foster future community leaders.
鉴于澳大利亚有大约一半有2至3岁孩子的家庭参加了亲子游戏小组，这些场所可能为社会支持和社区能力建设提供一个重要的平台。本研究的目的是评估家长和更广泛的社区从这种参与中获得的益处。
我们通过对33名亲子游戏小组参与者的自选择样本进行定性访谈，研究了社区能力建设的机会。所有参与者均为孩子的亲生母亲，许多人曾参与亲子游戏小组管理委员会，其中11名参与者目前或曾经担任过亲子游戏小组协调员。
我们发现，亲子游戏小组通过建立社区联系、技能培养和创造领导途径，成为建设社区能力的关键场所。我们发现，参与亲子游戏小组委员会往往是女性首次涉足社区志愿服务，并且常常会转化为未来的社区领导角色，比如幼儿园管理委员会和小学理事会。
社区亲子游戏小组在建设社区能力方面发挥着关键作用，并为新志愿者的培养提供了途径。那又如何呢？：依赖志愿者委员会的地方政府、学校和其他社区组织将受益于为社区亲子游戏小组提供支持，以培养未来的社区领导者。
