Dialogues with Parents - welcoming, listening, empowering

This presentation is based on the three axes that support our view of the child and family today: placing contemporary evidence-based knowledge at the centre of our understanding of development and learning; knowing the reality of the life of families and children in Portugal; and being able to translate this knowledge into concrete action, given the uniqueness of each context. Having these axes as a framework in the creation of proposals to support families, namely the most vulnerable and multi challenged, the Project "Dialogues with Parents - Welcoming, Listening, Empowering" will be presented. This is a project of the Brazelton Gomes-Pedro Foundation for Baby and Family Sciences supported by the BPI "la Caixa" Foundation Children's Award. Aimed at enhancing the relationship between parents and children and promoting the integral development of children based on the Touchpoints Model, the main goal is to empower parents to exercise a positive parenting, supporting them and widening their knowledge and skills, in order to enhance parents/child interaction. Touchpoints assumptions underpin the relationship with families, strengthening their well-being, development and learning in a systemic and lasting way. With a modular structure, from Prenatal- Newborn to 6 years, it offers two types of workshops, both with 10 modules - one in which the same group of parents carries out the complete training, accompanying the development process from prenatal to 6 years; a second modality in which parents/families select one Touchpoint according to their needs, namely the age of their children. We bring results of project, particularly highlighting families voices, as this is what best translates the impact of the project, illuminating the challenges of being a family today and the importance of the way in which families are welcomed, listened, and empowered by professionals and communities.