Journal article
The first 18 months: Parental choices regarding their infant's health care needs
Neonatal, Paediatric and Child Health Nursing, Vol.17(3), pp.17-22
2014
Abstract
In Australia, community child health services provide comprehensive primary health care to infants, children and their families with the goal of optimising infant and family health in the first five years of life. Child health surveillance clinics are one important aspect of this service which provide infant growth and development monitoring, and parent support. This prospective cohort study investigated families (n=72) attending an open-access clinic with a newborn infant over an 18-month period. Six structured questionnaires were administered. Data were collected in areas of service usage and attendance patterns, parent information and support, infant nutrition, growth and development, parental coping and wellbeing, and health promotion. Key findings were that parents had varied patterns of attendance within the open-access clinic (OAC), based on their immediate needs, and that these changed with the age of the infant. Important data were also collected regarding patterns of usage for other child health service providers, such as access to general practitioners (GPs) and child health nurses (CHNs) for routine well-baby assessments. Potentially, parents could be provided with clearer service pathways prior to discharge from maternity units, informing them about which services are helpful for specific infant health issues. There is also potential for increased collaboration between community child health services and GP services, subsequently decreasing the burden on the health care system, and ensuring consistency of health care information provided to parents between different providers. Although this study investigated a context-specific group, it provides important information in key areas, such as why parents introduce solids early, where and why they are attending for their infants' developmental assessments and health care needs at different stages from birth to 18 months. The information from this study will help children's primary health care services to efficiently and effectively plan services to meet parental and infant health needs in Australia.
Details
- Title
- The first 18 months: Parental choices regarding their infant's health care needs
- Authors
- Lauren Kearney (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringP Fulbrook (Author) - Australian Catholic University
- Publication details
- Neonatal, Paediatric and Child Health Nursing, Vol.17(3), pp.17-22
- Publisher
- Cambridge Publishing
- Date published
- 2014
- ISSN
- 1441-6638
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99448944202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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