Orthopedagogische thuisbegeleiding met het Portage Programma Nederland

During the last twenty years the importance of early recognition of childrearing problems in families has been generally accepted. In consequence social as well as scientific interest for early intervention in child-rearing problems was excited. One of the forms of early orthopedagogic intervention is the Portage Programme Netherlands (PPN), which was originally an American programme for families with children in the developmental agegroup of 0-6 years, that has been adapted to the Dutch situation. The programma is intended to support families with (imminent) child-rearing problems, that may or may not be connected to a developmental problem in the child. One of the principles of this programme is that the support will have the best results if it is given in the home-situation with active cooperation of the daily caregivers. It is assumed that a systematic and cyclic method would be most suitable. Furthermore the method is based on behavioral principles. In this study attention is given to the results of the Portage-project Groningen, in which the clinical relevance and the effectiveness of this programme over the last eight years was studied in two target-groups. One target-group is made up of families with a child with an serious mental handicap; the other target-group is made up of families with moderate childrearing problems that are not connected to a developmental problem in the child. In these families the child-rearing problems are usually related to the daily interaction between the parents and the child. In the project the PPN was developed into a form of orthopedagogic home-support, focussed on childrearing.