RESEARCH ARTICLE


Building Connections: Reducing Social Isolation for Mothers in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities through a Sharing and Learning Group



Maryanne Theobald1, *, Amanda Mc Fadden2, Mandy Cox3
1 School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia
2 Red Hill Community Kindergarten, Red Hill, Qld 4059, Australia
3 Communify Queensland, 180 Jubilee Terrace, Bardon QLD 4065, Australia

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2020
Volume: 12
First Page: 18
Last Page: 26
Publisher Id: TOFAMSJ-12-18
DOI: 10.2174/1874922402012010018

Article History:

Received Date: 26/09/2019
Revision Received Date: 28/01/2020
Acceptance Date: 19/02/2020
Electronic publication date: 03/06/2020
Collection year: 2020

© 2020 Theobald et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland Australia, 4051., Tel: +61 73138 3178; E-mail: m.theobald@qut.edu.au


Abstract

Background:

Social isolation is an everyday experience for many mothers and children within culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Engaging in group experiences with others provides authentic opportunities to make social connections, along with sharing common interests.

Aim:

This paper reports on a project that involved working within a transdisciplinary team at a community group in Brisbane, Australia. The Women and Children’s Learning and Sharing Community Group was a targeted program to foster mental health and feelings of well-being for mothers and children who were identified as at risk of social isolation.

Methods:

Semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews were conducted to gain the experiences of being involved in the community group from the perspectives of mothers and support workers. Summative Content Analysis is used to explore the transcribed accounts of the mothers and support workers who came together at the women’s sharing and learning group and, in particular, how the group facilitated growth-fostering connections to reduce the impact of social isolation.

Results:

Using a Relational-Cultural Theory and a Relational Agency Framework lens, thematic Content Analysis of the mothers’ accounts reveal three themes of 1) Freedom, 2) Connection, and 3) Transformation. Exploration of mothers and support workers’ accounts highlighted four interactional elements as foundational to the program: 1) Respecting Group Identity, 2) Building a relaxed, mother-focused, and child-inclusive atmosphere, 3) Respecting diversity and the mutual enhancement of competence and 4) Fostering positives and strengths of the members.

Conclusion:

Recommendations are provided when working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities include: 1) Provide concrete support; 2) Make use of participants’ strengths and partnerships, 3) Provide culturally sensitive and inclusive practice, 4) Build a sense of community, mutual support and connections. Proposed key learnings highlight the importance of transdisciplinary teams and strength-based approaches when working in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Keywords: Social isolation, Content analysis, Interview, Relational-cultural theory, A relational agency framework, Migrants, Culturally and linguistically diverse, Intervention, Mothers’ group.