Audit as evidence: the effectiveness of '123 Magic' programmes

This paper reports on an audit to determine the effectiveness of '123 Magic', a group-based parenting programme that encourages parents to explore, discuss and practice strategies to manage child behaviour. The audit's use at a local level to provide evidence of effectiveness and areas for quality improvement is described. Audit can also be useful to determine outcomes locally and to develop new hypotheses for testing through research. The effectiveness of '123 Magic' was evaluated by measuring whether parenting self-efficacy increased after attending a programme. A total of 74 parents took part from 16 '123 Magic' parenting programmes from October 2007 to June 2009. Parents completed the TOPSE evaluation tool as a pre- and post-course measure of parenting self-efficacy. Scores increased at the end of the parenting programmes for all scales, which suggests that'123 Magic' is effective in terms of improving parenting self-efficacy and also demonstrates the value and contribution of parenting programme facilitators to supporting parents and families in the community.