What are Protective Factors?

Parental Resilience

Parents are more likely to achieve healthy, favorable outcomes if they are resilient. Resilience is the process of managing stress and functioning well, even when faced with challenges, adversity and trauma. Parental Resilience is being strong and flexible. How do you bounce back from difficulty as a parent and caregiver? This triangle symbolizes Parental Resilience as a mountain of strength, while building smaller mountains of strength inside. The Aloha Values of Akahai – Kindness, Lōkahi – Unity, and ‘Olu’olu – Agreeable are essential to Parental Resilience.

Parental Resilience is the ability for parents and caregivers to manage life’s stressors in healthy and productive ways. In order to do that, they need kindness and acceptance for themselves, as well as knowing that the task of caregiving is NOT easy and that no one gets it right all the time. When we hold the value of Akahai, we acknowledge that the task is difficult, the stress is real and that trying your best to grow, learn and overcome is always good enough.

Parental Resilience is supported by Lōkahi in that Lōkahi values shared kuleana (responsibility). All members have a role to contribute, not just the parent or caregiver. When parents are supported in their role within the home by members of the home, this diminishes their stress and grows their ability to be resilient when others stressors arise.

Parental Resilience is grown, in some respects, through the kindness of others. When a parent or caregiver is encouraged and appreciated for what they are doing, as opposed to judged or criticized for what they are not doing, their self-worth inevitably grows. When a parent experiences kindness from others, they are more likely to be kind to themselves in moments of stress. In ‘Olu’olu, this kindness is generational as well, and will likely lead to higher resilience in their keiki.

Social Support

Parents need people who care about them and their children, who can be good listeners, who they can turn to for well-informed advice and who they can call on for help in solving problems. Thus, the availability and quality of social connections are important considerations in the lives of parents.

Parents need friends and community who support them. Do you have people to support you when things get rough? This Hawaiian petroglyph symbolizes parents getting the social support that they need to become strong parents.

For Lōkahi, Social Support and connections are an integral part to a healthy family. Both inside and, equally as important, outside the home. Healthy connections that support parents as individuals and in their role as parents, by listening, giving good advice, and helping to care for keiki, benefit the entire family’s well-being. When parents and caregivers do not feel alone, it becomes easier for them to promote healthy connections within the home.

For ‘Olu’olu, (insert paragraph here).

Ha’aha’a knows that connection to others is necessary for true well-being. Healthy Social Support and connections cannot be fostered if one feels that they have all the answers, or have no desire to recieve or give help. When Ha’aha’a is embraced, children get access to their extended ‘ohana, healthier parents and increased well-being.

Understanding Child Development

Parents need to know how children grow. Being a great parent is part natural and part learned. What is the next big thing your child needs to learn and how are you going to be a part of it? This kalo (taro) plant represents understanding how our children grow and how to support them.

Knowledge of Child Development promotes ‘Olu’olu through understanding. When a parent knows more about the developmental phases for children, this will keep their expectations realistic to the individual child. This knowledge helps to relieve stress and allows for greater kindness in interactions. When this kindness and acceptance in present, it makes for improved home environments that can actually benefit child development.

Similarly, being Ha’aha’a is required in order to genuinely get to know your keiki through learning about the different phases of Child Development. Being open to learning allows parents and caregivers the ability to sincerely support their keiki in their growth and to provide the appropriate support and encouragement when needed.

Understanding Child Development will help parents and caretakers to allow for the appropriate time for children to grow. The Protective Factor of Understanding Child Development and parenting needs the value of Ahonui to thrive, for it is heavily dependent on acknowledging that development happens at its own pace. Akahai promotes acceptance and realistic expectations, and healthy child development needs that space in order to happen. The more a parent understands, the more realistic the expectations become, the less stress is put on the child, and the more likely healthy growth occurs.

Concrete Support

We all need help sometimes. What are the hardest things about finding help, and what have you learned to make it easier? This house symbolizes the basic necessities we need as a family, like food, shelter, and childcare.

Concrete Supports help promote Akahai and vice versa. When a family has their basic needs met, there is less stress in the home and more grace can be given. On the other end, when the value of Akahai is present, there is a higher likelihood that the parents and caregivers will acknowledge and accept when they need support and will be more likely to do what it takes to acquire them.

Concrete Support cannot be accessed if Ha’aha’a is not valued. In order to acquire concrete supports, parents and caregivers need to be open enough to seek them. Ha’aha’a knows that seeking what you need for your keiki and ‘ohana is an example of strength.

Concrete Supports help to de-stress the home. However, they take time to acquire, so Ahonui reminds us that not everything happens over night and that perseverance is needed to get what is needed, when it is needed.

Social-Emotional Competence of Children

Parents need to help their children interact and communicate well. Can your child share their feelings? This happy and sad emoji symbolizes helping our children name their feelings.

When it comes to Social-Emotional Competence of  Children, the value of Akahai knows that in order for children to grow their competence, they need to be provided a safe and nurturing environment to do so. It needs to be modeled, it needs to be nurtured, and it needs to be valued.

The Social-Emotional Competence of Children grows best in a home that holds dear the value of Lōkahi. When Lōkahi is present, a family is unified and invested in each member, thus it is more likely that the children feel safe and supported to express themselves. The more  children can express themselves and learn through that expression, the more aware they become of what they are feeling and how it affects them.

Social-Emotional Competence of Children needs Ahonui to grow. Children will not feel safe to grow if they feel they are being judged for the pace at which they do. Ahonui reminds us that this competence takes time, and cannot be rushed.