RE: Collaborative enquiry approach to health visiting

[Guest guest]

Robyn,

This made me want to cheer!

I'd be really interested in reading more of what you discovered from your own & colleagues practice.

I'd like to think that I try for this approach in my own practice but am aware that there are many times when it becomes all too easy to get impossibly bogged down/collusive or plain presumptuous due to many internal & external factors- reflective practice or this kind enquiry helps to examine our practice and improve it.

Judy

-----Original Message-----From: Robyn_Pound [mailto:robyn_pound@...] Sent: 17 May 2004 07:04 Subject: Collaborative enquiry approach to health visitingThank you for creating this web space. It is just what I needed to inspire me to begin sharing research ideas beyond my immediate colleagues. A few years ago you went to trouble to respond to a paper of mine. It was about an action research approach to developing and explaining my health visiting with families. You asked lots of useful questions that I addressed over the next few years and I completed my PhD in 2003. The question remained `How can I improve my health visitingsupport of parenting?: The creation of an alongside epistemology through action enquiry'. The PhD process helped me identify and develop what I do as a health visitor with children's future mental health in mind. It also helped me understand some different ways of creating knowledge. I now recognise the way of being I attempt in my relationship-centred practice with families and communities is a kind of living enquiry approach that I call alongsideness. It mirrors the collaborative enquiry process in which all participants, client and professional are endeavouring to improve and understand what they are doing. I see this way of being as practice knowledge where practice is collaborative enquiry. This turns out rather useful now that the call for patient participation is stronger than ever. How did I get to this point? My process represents my changing perspectives and developing ideas within changing social and political expectations. In the late 1980s I began to think about the amount of hitting and threatening of children I saw during my work. It was usually not severe enough to match the criteria for child abuse but contributed to emotional distress and behavioural problems that parents commonly complained about. I witnessed physical punishments across the social scale and heard parents describe their use of implements on their own children to achieve the results they sought. Joining the children's rights movement I became aware of the prevalence of punishments and fault-finding in communicating with children in our society and its legacy for future mental health. Through the process of enquiry as I worked, I moved from being a professional who acted on what I 'knew' parents should not be doing to children towards a more alongside approach to working with parents in creating the kind of family relationships likely to realise their hopes for their children. In my process I explored questions such as: Where does my passion for this come from? What is it I need to know if I am to do this? How can I be proactive for children if I am parent-led? How do I influence others who care for children? Because my enquiry was a self-study about what I was doing it was a stroke of luck that I stumbled on action enquiry methodology that is about generating personal values to develop, explain and check professional practice. The full meanings of the values that now make up alongsideness for me are lost when abstracted from the practice in which they are grounded, however I summarise them here. For me now alongsideness is: • founded on the worth of humanness, in that all people are valuable, have useful knowledge and are worth my respectful effort • a belief that people are living in a 'process of becoming' and would prefer life to be better if only they knew how to achieve it• belief in the creativity of people who are searching for solutions the value of self determination for growth and responsibility• belief in a life affirming energy to be gained from connection between people.These values are probably widely recognised by practitioners but the point is that I had to find them out for myself from my own experiences and from examining what I hold to be important. Reasons why they are important values motivating what I do became part of the explanation. My claim now is that I embody and live them in my actions. Well that is the intention! The values continue to be transformatory in the light of new experiences that may challenge them. I constantly need to ask myself: Do I live these values wherever I practice? How can I live them more fully? Some of my biggest leaps in understanding have arisen from contradictions between my intentions and my actions. A big one may be widely recognised. How do you balance the different kinds of relationships needed to promote well being and to protect children from abuse?Since finishing my PhD I negotiated the facilitation of a co-enquiry process, as research, amongst all of my health visiting colleagues across our PCT. This is timely for developing health visiting practice in the face of the changes and even more important, for accounting for ourselves. Alongsideness proves valuable for me as a way of being with my enquiring peers but it is also interesting to see how other practitioners interpret their ways of being as they approach similar work. I welcome hearing responses and sharing of ideas. Robyn Pound

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[Guest guest]

Don't know why my last message came out twice; empathetic computer recognising

my fury, I guess!  One reason I delayed responding to Liz, was because I

really wanted to reply to Robyn more fully, which I hope to do later in the

week.  

In the meantime; thank you Robyn, for giving us some good things to think

about and very well done for carrying out such a complex and fascinating

study.  This resume is excellent, but is your work published anywhere? (sorry;

reflex academic question!) It has enormous implications for health visitor

education and continuing professional development.

kind regards

Judy wrote:

Message

Robyn,

This made me want to cheer!

I'd be really interested in reading more of what

you discovered from your own & colleagues practice.

I'd like to think that I try for this approach

in my own practice but am aware that there are many times when it becomes

all too easy to get impossibly bogged down/collusive or plain presumptuous

due to many internal & external factors- reflective practice or this

kind enquiry helps to examine our practice and improve it.

 

Judy

Collaborative enquiry approach to health

visiting

Thank you for creating this web space.  It is just what

I

needed to inspire me to begin sharing research ideas beyond my

immediate colleagues.  A few years ago you went to trouble to respond

to a paper of mine. It was about an action research approach to

developing and explaining my health visiting with families.  You

asked lots of useful questions that I addressed over the next few

years and I completed my PhD in 2003.  

The question remained `How can I improve my health visiting

support of parenting?:  The creation of an alongside epistemology

through action enquiry'.

The PhD process helped me identify and develop what I do as a health

visitor with children's future mental health in mind. It also helped

me understand some different ways of creating knowledge.  I now

recognise the way of being I attempt in my relationship-centred

practice with families and communities is a kind of living enquiry

approach that I call alongsideness.  It mirrors the collaborative

enquiry process in which all participants, client and professional

are endeavouring to improve and understand what they are doing.  I

see this way of being as practice knowledge where practice is

collaborative enquiry.  This turns out rather useful now that the

call for patient participation is stronger than ever. 

How did I get to this point?  My process represents my changing

perspectives and developing ideas within changing social and

political expectations. In the late 1980s I began to think about the

amount of hitting and threatening of children I saw during my work. 

It was usually not severe enough to match the criteria for child

abuse but contributed to emotional distress and behavioural problems

that parents commonly complained about.  I witnessed physical

punishments across the social scale and heard parents describe their

use of implements on their own children to achieve the results they

sought.  Joining the children's rights movement I became aware of the

prevalence of punishments and fault-finding in communicating with

children in our society and its legacy for future mental health.

Through the process of enquiry as I worked, I moved from being a

professional who acted on what I 'knew' parents should not be doing

to children towards a more alongside approach to working with parents

in creating the kind of family relationships likely to realise their

hopes for their children.  In my process I explored questions such

as: Where does my passion for this come from? What is it I need to

know if I am to do this? How can I be proactive for children if I am

parent-led? How do I influence others who care for children?  Because

my enquiry was a self-study about what I was doing it was a stroke of

luck that I stumbled on action enquiry methodology that is about

generating personal values to develop, explain and check professional

practice.  The full meanings of the values that now make up

alongsideness for me are lost when abstracted from the practice in

which they are grounded, however I summarise them here. For me now

alongsideness is:

•      founded on the worth of humanness, in that all people are

valuable, have useful knowledge and are worth my respectful effort

•      a belief that people are living in a 'process of becoming'

and would prefer life to be better if only they knew how to achieve it

•      belief in the creativity of people who are searching for

solutions the value of self determination for growth and

responsibility

•      belief in a life affirming energy to be gained from

connection between people.

These values are probably widely recognised by practitioners but the

point is that I had to find them out for myself from my own

experiences and from examining what I hold to be important. Reasons

why they are important values motivating what I do became part of the

explanation.  My claim now is that I embody and live them in my

actions. Well that is the intention! The values continue to be

transformatory in the light of new experiences that may challenge

them.  I constantly need to ask myself: Do I live these values

wherever I practice? How can I live them more fully?   Some of my

biggest leaps in understanding have arisen from contradictions

between my intentions and my actions.  A big one may be widely

recognised.  How do you balance the different kinds of relationships

needed to promote well being and to protect children from abuse?

Since finishing my PhD I negotiated the facilitation of a co-enquiry

process, as research, amongst all of my health visiting colleagues

across our PCT.  This is timely for developing health visiting

practice in the face of the changes and even more important, for

accounting for ourselves.  Alongsideness proves valuable for me as a

way of being with my enquiring peers but it is also interesting to

see how other practitioners interpret their ways of being as they

approach similar work.  I welcome hearing responses and sharing of

ideas. 

Robyn Pound

---

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[Guest guest]

> I agree this sound great and I would like to know more. Where

can i access your findings

Robyn,

> This made me want to cheer!

> I'd be really interested in reading more of what you

discovered from

> your own & colleagues practice.

> I'd like to think that I try for this approach in my own

practice but am

> aware that there are many times when it becomes all too easy

to get

> impossibly bogged down/collusive or plain presumptuous due to

many

> internal & external factors- reflective practice or this kind

enquiry

> helps to examine our practice and improve it.

>

> Judy

>

> Collaborative enquiry approach to

health visiting

>

>

> Thank you for creating this web space. It is just what

I

> needed to inspire me to begin sharing research ideas beyond my

> immediate colleagues. A few years ago you went to trouble to

respond

> to a paper of mine. It was about an action research approach

to

> developing and explaining my health visiting with families.

You

> asked lots of useful questions that I addressed over the next

few

> years and I completed my PhD in 2003.

>

> The question remained `How can I improve my health visiting

> support of parenting?: The creation of an alongside

epistemology

> through action enquiry'.

>

> The PhD process helped me identify and develop what I do as a

health

> visitor with children's future mental health in mind. It also

helped

> me understand some different ways of creating knowledge. I

now

> recognise the way of being I attempt in my relationship-

centred

> practice with families and communities is a kind of living

enquiry

> approach that I call alongsideness. It mirrors the

collaborative

> enquiry process in which all participants, client and

professional

> are endeavouring to improve and understand what they are

doing. I

> see this way of being as practice knowledge where practice is

> collaborative enquiry. This turns out rather useful now that

the

> call for patient participation is stronger than ever.

>

> How did I get to this point? My process represents my

changing

> perspectives and developing ideas within changing social and

> political expectations. In the late 1980s I began to think

about the

> amount of hitting and threatening of children I saw during my

work.

> It was usually not severe enough to match the criteria for

child

> abuse but contributed to emotional distress and behavioural

problems

> that parents commonly complained about. I witnessed physical

> punishments across the social scale and heard parents describe

their

> use of implements on their own children to achieve the results

they

> sought. Joining the children's rights movement I became aware

of the

> prevalence of punishments and fault-finding in communicating

with

> children in our society and its legacy for future mental

health.

>

> Through the process of enquiry as I worked, I moved from being

a

> professional who acted on what I 'knew' parents should not be

doing

> to children towards a more alongside approach to working with

parents

> in creating the kind of family relationships likely to realise

their

> hopes for their children. In my process I explored questions

such

> as: Where does my passion for this come from? What is it I

need to

> know if I am to do this? How can I be proactive for children

if I am

> parent-led? How do I influence others who care for children?

Because

> my enquiry was a self-study about what I was doing it was a

stroke of

> luck that I stumbled on action enquiry methodology that is

about

> generating personal values to develop, explain and check

professional

> practice. The full meanings of the values that now make up

> alongsideness for me are lost when abstracted from the

practice in

> which they are grounded, however I summarise them here. For me

now

> alongsideness is:

> • founded on the worth of humanness, in that all people

are

> valuable, have useful knowledge and are worth my respectful

effort

> • a belief that people are living in a 'process of

becoming'

> and would prefer life to be better if only they knew how to

achieve it

> • belief in the creativity of people who are searching

for

> solutions the value of self determination for growth and

> responsibility

> • belief in a life affirming energy to be gained from

> connection between people.

>

> These values are probably widely recognised by practitioners

but the

> point is that I had to find them out for myself from my own

> experiences and from examining what I hold to be important.

Reasons

> why they are important values motivating what I do became part

of the

> explanation. My claim now is that I embody and live them in

my

> actions. Well that is the intention! The values continue to be

> transformatory in the light of new experiences that may

challenge

> them. I constantly need to ask myself: Do I live these values

> wherever I practice? How can I live them more fully? Some of

my

> biggest leaps in understanding have arisen from contradictions

> between my intentions and my actions. A big one may be widely

> recognised. How do you balance the different kinds of

relationships

> needed to promote well being and to protect children from

abuse?

>

> Since finishing my PhD I negotiated the facilitation of a co-

enquiry

> process, as research, amongst all of my health visiting

colleagues

> across our PCT. This is timely for developing health visiting

> practice in the face of the changes and even more important,

for

> accounting for ourselves. Alongsideness proves valuable for

me as a

> way of being with my enquiring peers but it is also

interesting to

> see how other practitioners interpret their ways of being as

they

> approach similar work. I welcome hearing responses and

sharing of

> ideas.

> Robyn Pound

>

>

>

>

> _____

>

>

[Guest guest]

I am interested, Robyn, and have started to download the thesis; will make

time somewhere to look at it further, but probably not this weekend due to

other pressing deadlines (why are there always so many? Oh, I remember,

because I have never learnt to say no!). I am fascinated by the website,

which is actionresearch.net, as you told us first, not 'dotcom' as in this

message.

I have never seen PhDs made available in this way before, and can see its

possibilities. This week, I had another student having his viva, and we

were all reflecting that it is probably only supervisers and examiners who

read the whole thing; everyone else goes for just the introduction and conclusion!

I will try to do better here; thanks for the guidance about where to find

what. kind regards

Robyn Pound wrote:

The Thesis is on the website www.actionresearch.com in the Thesis

Section Chapters 5, 6, 7 talk about daily HV relationships in practice and

Chapter 8 develops the epistemology (especially the post viva reflections!).

I am keen to hear opinions about this because self study like this that involves

a caseload of clients and others requires a different way of seeing research.

Robyn