February Lunch and Learn

MASOC Lunch and Learn: Trusted Voices, Real Needs: Parent and Caregiver Insights for Effective Communication by PSB Professionals

This Lunch and Learn series is a monthly, 1-hour, high-octane focus on the emerging issues for clinicians and allied professionals working with children and youth engaging in problematic sexual behaviors. This is a collaborative effort between MASOC and MACA.

Health communications are often a challenge for content experts trying to communicate with people . For professionals, agencies, and organizations who work regularly with children and youth with harmful or concerning sexual behaviors or child sexual abuse prevention more broadly, we are tremendously eager to reach parents and caregivers as core partners in response and prevention. We also often miss the mark with our materials and outreach pathways. This session explores the results of statewide focus groups in Massachusetts with families and caregivers about their needs, concerns, and trusted sources of information about the sexual and relationship development of their children. We will discuss the key thematic findings, as well as implementation and utilization suggestions for resource development and design.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe key themes, concerns, and information needs identified by parents and caregivers in Massachusetts focus groups regarding children’s sexual and relationship development and child sexual abuse prevention.
2. Analyze common gaps and misalignments between expert-driven health communications and caregiver expectations, including preferred messengers and trusted information sources.
3. Apply focus group findings to inform the design, messaging, and dissemination of parent- and caregiver-facing prevention resources and outreach strategies.