Multi-Family Approach - the empowerment of families
The Multi-Family Approach (MFA) is an preventive intervention for groups of families. The central idea behind the MFA is bringing together different families suffering from traumatic stress, creating connections among them and thereby using their strengths and resources to empower each other. This approach has been successfully implemented in Palestine through local trainings, provided by ARQ International. The approach has been adopted in several Palestinian communities and is worked with up to this moment. Currently, MFA is further developed to be applicable to different geographical and cultural contexts.
The Multi-Family Approach is a preventive empowerment method which is applied to groups of families that are experiencing traumatic stress.
- The Lancet descriptive study on MFA
The Multi-Family Approach to facilitate a family support network for Palestinian parents of children with a disability: a descriptive study. - Languages
The Multi-Family Approach programme is available in English, Arabic, Kurdish and other. - Partners
Sioo Interuniversitair Centrum voor Organisatie- en Veranderkunde, the Netherlands; Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) - Birzeit University and Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR); Northern West Bank, Palestine, which is administered by Palestinian Medical Relief Society; Patients Friends Society and Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
Manual based on MFA programme
ARQ International, in collaboration with the Palestinian Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) of Birzeit University and with Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), developed a manual based on our Multi-Family Approach programme.
The manual ‘The Multi-Family Approach in Humanitarian Settings’ consists of three parts:
- Part A: a manual for organisations, detailing the MFA method.
- Part B: a manual for trainers, adjusting the MFA method to the cultural context.
- Part C: a manual for social workers and facilitators, depicting best practices and lessons learned.
The manual enables community workers to claim local ownership over a project and allows them to expand and continue in the long term. The manual also contributes to the ongoing development of the MFA method and makes it available applicable to other programmes in similar circumstances.
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