The Promotional Guide System is used extensively by health visitors, community health practitioners, and child and family nurses to improve the identification of family strengths, needs and adversity.

The Promotional Guides help parents and practitioners to explore key antenatal and postnatal experiences, foetal and infant development, family health and wellbeing, early parenting, family and social support.

The Promotional Guides help to parents and practitioners to make well-informed, shared decisions about family strengths and needs, concerns and priorities, as well as effective plans for early support and intervention.

New and experienced practitioners incorporate the content of the Promotional Guide System into all of their family contacts. Adapted versions of the materials are used by midwives and school nurses.

The Promotional Guide System consists of three core components.

Antenatal Promotional Topic Guide and Cards, Family Map and Guidance Notes
Practitioners generally use the antenatal materials to conduct a ‘guided conversation’ with families in the third trimester of pregnancy. The Antenatal Guide covers topics such as mother’s and father’s experiences of pregnancy; developing bond with their baby; expectations for early infancy and parenthood, and the impact of current and past life experiences and circumstances.

Postnatal Promotional Topic Guide and Cards, Family Map and Guidance Notes
Practitioners use the Postnatal Guide with families in the early weeks after birth. The Postnatal Guide covers topics such as the experiences and meaning of labour and the baby’s birth, parents’ and baby’s health and wellbeing, early parenting experiences and new family life; the baby’s emerging temperament, capabilities and needs; parent–infant relationships, care and interaction; and the impact of current and past life experiences and circumstances.

Family Strengths and Needs Summary
The Family Strengths and Needs Summary helps to guide and support practitioners’ effective analysis and accurate assessment of parent, infant and family need, risk and resilience.

The Guides are underpinned by the Family Partnership Model (FPM), an evidence-based, internationally recognised exemplar of goal-orientated, partnership practice.

The Promotional Guides help parents and practitioners to explore key antenatal and postnatal experiences, foetal and infant development, health and wellbeing of mothers and fathers, their early parenting, and family and social support