Author(s): Sarah Bergeson
Mentor(s): Kaicee Postler, Rachel Arocho, Julie Nelson
Institution UVU
The Stronger Families Project (SFP) is a well-established family life education (FLE) program that seeks to empower families by enhancing their capacity for positive interaction and emotional resilience. For 8-weeks, families attend weekly 1.5-hour SFP classes taught by undergraduate student interns that include age-appropriate classes for the first hour and a combined family class to reiterate learned skills for the last 30 minutes. SFP’s curriculum is based on the Family Wellness “Survival Skills for Healthy Families” program (Family Wellness, 2024). Guided by SFP’s mission to “elevate the family as the fundamental source of happiness and well-being,” the current study aims to evaluate the efficacy of SFP to understand how families benefit from the program and how it can continue to grow and improve. A pre- and post-test analysis of change for adult participants in Spring 2024 was employed. Participants completed pre- and post-program surveys via Qualtrics. Several subscales from the program’s own established evaluation tool were used, including Communication: Speaking, Stress and Change, and Problem Solving. (Family Wellness, 2024). Additionally, the General Functioning Subscale from the Family Assessment Device (FAD) was used (Epstein et al., 1983). Data from the current study will be analyzed prior to the conference date to assess any improvements in family functioning. Findings from the current study will be used to guide future research efforts, FLE programs, and any necessary improvements to SFP. Results will be presented along with implications for future research and practice.