A qualitative evaluation of the reflective fostering programme – examining foster and kinship carers’ experiences, practical application, and perceived impact

Background: Mentalization is the ability to think about and interpret behaviours of both self and others in terms of thoughts and feelings. Caregiver’s capacity to mentalize can enhance the quality of parent-child relationships. The UK Reflective Fostering Programme (RFP) has been developed to enhance foster and kinship carers’ self-regulation and self-mentalizing. Aim: To understand carers’ experiences, practical application, and perceived impact of the RFP. Methods: A qualitative evaluation of the RFP using in depth interviews with twenty-four carers. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results: Three key themes were identified: (1) ‘Me time’ – carer’s reflections on the programme and what makes it work, highlights sharing of challenging experiences as important for practising mentalizing. (2) ‘Stopping and thinking in the moment’ - carer’s understanding of programme concepts explores carer's conceptualizations of mentalization, revealing some male carers described challenges regarding sharing personal experiences in a group and the practical application of mentalization. (3) Practical application and perceived impact of the programme suggests successful enactment of learning from the programme, resulting in enhanced capacity to cope with stress, prevention of outbursts and better communication with children in their care. Conclusions: Our findings suggest the programme can successfully facilitate carer’s use of self-mentalizing, leading to greater self-regulation and capacity to support children in their care. Future research should explore experiences of male and kinship carers to inform tailoring.