VIDEO HOME TRAINING (THE ORION-PROJECT) - A SHORT-TERM PREVENTIVE ANDTREATMENT INTERVENTION FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG-CHILDREN

Developed in Holland and based on short-term, home-centered, filmed vi deo feedback of family interactions, an experimental Orion project was conducted in Israel to determine whether it could be provided through local welfare departments as a routine treatment alternative. This ar ticle summarizes an evaluation of 52 families (with problems in parent -child interaction) and 64 control families that participated in the O rion Video Home-Training Project. Only the Orion. families showed sign ificant gains in all the eight areas of positive parent-child communic ation that are the focus of the program, which is based on reinforcing potential family strengths. These gains were generally sustained 6 mo nths after program completion. There were several background variables , such as family status, income, health, education, and employment, th at influenced the extent of family gains.