The goal of Nobody’s Perfect is to improve participants’capabilities to maintain and promote the health of their zero- to five-year-old children.  Nobody’s Perfect is based on a few simple beliefs:

• Parents love their children and want to be good parents. They want their children to be healthy and happy.
• Nobody is born knowing how to be a parent. All parents need information and support. Being part of a supportive group can help parents to recognize their strengths and understand their needs.
• Helping parents to meet their own needs is an important step in helping them to meet their children’s needs.
• Parents appreciate practical, positive and inexpensive ideas and approaches.

“The facilitators are more into listening to us rather than telling us what to do. It is far more helpful – it makes me feel like I can deal with things without being judged.” –Parent

Nobody’s Perfect (NPP) builds on what parents already know and do for themselves and their children. It starts with the parents’ own experiences and interests and gives them an active role in the learning process. NPP helps parents build networks among them and encourages them to see one another as sources of advice and support.  The program is designed to be flexible and can be tailored to meet the needs of both parents and organizations that sponsor programs. NPP works well with newcomer and Indiginous parent groups. NPP is usually offered as a series of group sessions held over a period of six to eight weeks. Each session is about two hours long. NPP can be offered one to one as well. Nobody’s Perfect is not about changing values. It is about acknowledging the values—and the diversity of values—in any group. The focus is on examining the impact values have on the choices parents make every day. One of the strengths of NPP is that it offers parents opportunities to explore their values and understand how values influence parenting and other aspects of their lives. Nobody’s Perfect does not teach one “right” way to parent. It helps parents to recognize their strengths and to find positive ways to raise healthy, happy children. The program is not intended for families in crisis.

“It was exciting to see things brought out and comments made and to see changes parents could see happening to themselves. Instead of me giving all the information it came from the parents – they took over”.

Nobody’s Perfect has proven to be an effective program for parents who have limited access to sources of help or information. The program is offered in a broad range of settings in every Canadian province and territory. Nobody’s Perfect is liked and used by many parents, including newcomers to Canada and Indigenous parents. Nobody’s Perfect parenting program has been extensively evaluated and participation in the program has been shown to increase:

• confidence in parenting skills
• ability to cope with stress
• ability to problem solve
• resiliency
• self-sufficiency and independence
• frequency of positive parent-child interactions
• use of positive discipline techniques
• access to peer/social/community support

Background

Nobody’s Perfect was developed in the early 1980s by Health Canada and the Departments of Health of the four Atlantic Provinces and is now owned by the Public Health Agency of Canada.  The program was introduced nationally in 1987 and is delivered in communities across Canada with funding from the provincial/territorial governments and non-profit organizations.

Nobody’s Perfect International

The simplicity and adaptability of the Nobody’s Perfect program makes it a model that can be readily adapted to meet the needs of diverse cultural communities.  Nobody’s Perfect has been implemented in Japan, Chile, Domincan Republic and in Mexico.   Chile: Nadie es Perfecto Chile Crece Contigo: Programa de Apoyo al Desarrollo Biopsicosocial.  Conoce las nuevas capsulas animadas de “Nadie es Perfecto”.  (Watch their animated videos “Nobody’s Perfect”)

We are grateful to the Public Health Agency of Canada for the ongoing support of the Nobody’s Perfect program. The Public Health Agency of Canada is not responsible for the content of any external resource or websites.

“Nobody’s Perfect Parenting... support for moms and dads with children from birth to five.”