Ecocultural Family Interview: A strengths-based approach to enhancing care plans and service delivery in an established community-based home visitation program

The Ecocultural Family Interview (EFI) Project is a three-year research project embedded within Empowering Families of Milwaukee (EFM), a comprehensive home visitation program at the City of Milwaukee Health Department. Since its inception in 2006, EFM has demonstrated a 50% decrease in instances of low birth weight and prematurity for babies born in the program. To reduce health disparities further, EFM instituted the EFI Project in 2008 to help better identify families' physical and mental health, social, and economic needs. The EFI Project uses the Ecocultural Family Interview as an assessment tool, rather than utilizing traditional, multiple-choice assessment forms. The Ecocultural Family Interview is a strengths-based, guided conversation with families about their daily routine – how they plan, implement, and sustain family activities – and how this helps or hinders family functioning. Research has shown that the information revealed in a family's daily routine is what matters most in children's lives and serves as the best indicator of family well-being. Throughout the interviews, the researchers listen for the family's strengths, the resources and supports available to the family, any constraints or obstacles the family must live with, and how they problem-solve to overcome these challenges. The researchers hypothesize that, by asking these questions in this unique, open-ended manner, and asking the families to tell their stories in their own words, new information will be elicited. This information can then be used to create better care plans, and lead to even better outcomes for the EFM participants and their families.