Family-Professional
Relationships
The
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is intended
to document the agreed upon goals and strategies
parents and professionals have collaboratively
worked out.
The
family and each professional need to aim for a working
relationship that will assure optimal outcomes
in a timely manner.
Professionals
need to view parents as colleagues who bring
skills, knowledge and experiences to the partnership.
Like the professional, these past experiences and
current knowledge base contribute to a parent's bias/opinion
for what will and won't work.
However,
like all good working relationships, the parent
and professional should aim to tap into and capitalize
on the strengths, knowledge and experiences that
are different from one another.
The
parent-professional relationship can be viewed as
a consultative relationship in which the parent
as colleague seeks a "consultant's " help to solve
a particular problem. Once the problem is addressed/solved
the consultant can move on to help other families.
The aim of the consultation should be to enhance
the family's ability to solve similar problems in
the future independently.
Types
of Consultation/Helping in Family-Professional
Relationships
|
| Short-term
direct |
Consultant/professional
provides direct service to fix the problem they
identify and then leaves the relationship and
discontinues the service. |
| Prescriptive: |
Consultant/professional
assesses the problem (observation, interview),
prescribes what should be done, and exits for
a while only to return to evaluate how well
the family has done and how well the prescribed
plan has worked. |
|
Informational:
|
Consultant/professional
provides information to family in the form of
explanations, reading materials, videos, or
phone #s and addresses on where to seek the
information. The information may be requested
by the family or assumed needed/wanted. Family
is left to interpret the information and apply
it when and how they see appropriate. |
| Collaborative: |
Consultant/professional
engages family in discussion about what needs
to be addressed. Family and professional negotiate
who should collect needed information and brainstorm
options for solving the problem. They mutually
agree who will implement each part of the solution
plan and discuss ongoing findings relative to
progress in the plan and changes noted. Roles
may reverse along the way and family and professional
feel comfortable exchanging ideas for the purpose
of solving this mutually-identified problem.
|
The
type of consultation the professional provides, however,
will be dictated by the family's specific request
and the level of the parent/professional working relationship
.
Clarifying
Requests
Time
must be taken to clarify the request in order
to avoid a mismatch between what the family wants/needs
and what the professional provides in their efforts
to help.
Specifically,
the parent and professional must engage in dialogue
(not simply questions and answers) to determine the
following:
- What
is the main problem/desire/need?
- Why
is this important/priority?
- What
has been tried to resolve this problem/need?
- What
has happened as a result of those efforts?
- What
specifically would be most helpful for the professional
to do? For Example:
-
Provide information/reading . . .
-
Demonstrate . . .
-
Explain . . .
- Observe
and give feedback . . .
-
Brainstorm/problem solve together . . .
-
Explore . . .
-
Assess . . .
- Access
. . .
-
Fix. . . .
-
Listen . . .
- Facilitate
. . .
Levels
of the Working Relationship
Parents
and professionals will have different degrees of a
working relationship depending on the amount of reciprocity
and trust they show each other.
"Working
Relationships"
on a Continuum of Reciprocity and Trust
|
| Lowest |
|
|
Highest
|
|
Co-activity
|
Cooperation
|
Coordination
|
Collaboration
|
These
different levels of reciprocity and trust are often
dependent upon time and the willingness of
the partners to advance the relationship. Collaborative
relationships are seldom established on first meeting
of the partners. The following table shows how these
relationships might look at different levels of reciprocity
and trust, and suggests ways to advance the relationship
at each level. Think about what relationships you
have at each level.
Defining
and Advancing Work Relationships
|
|
Level
|
Continuum
of respect/trust |
Description
|
Focus
on advancing by . . . |
1.
No Relationship
|
-- |
No
previous contacts or hostile, indifferent |
Developing
amicable interactions; getting to know one another
before talking about work-related topics; giving
reasons to want to see each other in the future. |
2.
Social Relationship
|
Co-activity |
Only
formal, social conversations at the workplace
or time of service; "adult parallel play" |
Discussing
work-related issues; drawing attention to the
specific reasons for working together; sharing
ideas and views as well as knowledge and skills |
3.
Limited Working Relationship
|
Cooperation |
Talk
about general issues; cautious; requests/offers
for help are not carried through |
Identifying
similar interests desires; clarifying roles
& responsibilities in the relationship; offering
help outside the main focus of your work |
4.
Adequate Working Relationship
|
Coordination |
Talk
about specific issues; ready to accept/offer
ideas and carry through; rigid role identities
and turf markers; "not my job" |
Increasingly
recognizing issues needing additional assistance/ideas;
offering/requesting help beyond original plan;
helping brainstorm options; receiving help graciously
and respectfully; commenting on partner's strengths/actions |
5.
Reciprocal Relationship
|
Collaboration |
Partnership;
open to & offer new ideas; seek help/give help;
trust/respect is evident; empathetic to others
|
Acknowledging satisfaction and gratitude and
the accomplishments of the partnership |
| 
