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Integrated Family Assessment and Intervention Model: A Collaborative Approach to Support Multi-Challenged Families

2011; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 33; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/s10591-011-9168-0

1573-3335

Ana Teixeira de Melo, Madalena Alarcão,

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

In this article we describe the Integrated Family Assessment and Intervention Model (IFAIM), a multi-systemic, collaborative, strength-based, and family-focused in-home approach developed and implemented in Portugal. IFAIM is designed to assess and to support multi-challenged poor families, commonly known as multi-problem families, at psychosocial risk, with maltreated or neglected children. It integrates clinical, educational, social, community and forensic concerns, and practices under a systemic, narrative, and collaborative umbrella. IFAIM's theoretical foundations and background, its main characteristics, stages of implementation, and research directions are described and a case illustration is presented.