On 13 December, the Institute for Advanced Family Studies (IESF), in collaboration with former students from the Marriage and Family Education programme, organised the third online colloquim on family support.. People from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines participated in this edition.
The aim of the meeting was to present the key concepts of family support and to discuss how to create a culture of family support. The speakers were Montserrat Gas, director of the IESF, Maria Pilar Pilar Lacorte, director of teaching programmes, and Marc Grau, a researcher at the institute.
Throughout the colloquium, it was emphasised that support is a broad and extensive task that can be performed in different ways and from different areas: Schools, family clubs, educational psychology or mediation offices, medical clinics, parishes and any place where family encounters take place. “It is about providing practical support to strengthen family ties, thus favouring healthy family life dynamics,” attendees were reminded.
Following the presentation, some of the participants, linked virtually, were able to speak and address the speakers. The importance of working on trust-based, naturally-carried, follow-up action, with a non-directive mode of aid and providing preventative tools to address the ordinary problems all families face was emphasised.
This colloquium was organised to help prepare for the International Workshop on Family Support, which will take place at UIC Barcelona from 13 to 15 May 2022. This event aims to provide a space for training and an exchange of ideas with the speakers and experts who will participate in it, as well as for interprofessional relationships and direct access to training resources in this area.
