Working on the interface: identifying professional responses to families with mental health and child-care needs

The gaps between mental health and child-care services constitute a recognised barrier to providing effective services to families where parents have mental health problems. Recent guidance exhorts professionals to coordinate and collaborate more consistently in this area of work. The present study aimed to identify the barriers to inter-professional collaboration through a survey of 500 health and social care professionals. The views of 11 mothers with severe mental health problems whose children had been subject to a child protection case conference were also interrogated through two sets of interviews. The study found that communication problems were identified more frequently between child care workers and adult psychiatrists than between other groups. Communication between general practitioners and child-care workers was also more likely to be described as problematic. While there was some support amongst practitioners for child-care workers to assume a coordinating or lead role in such cases, this support was not overwhelming, and reflected professional interests and alliances. The mothers themselves valued support from professionals whom they felt were 'there for them' and whom they could trust. There was evidence from the responses of child-care social workers that they lacked the capacity to fill this role in relation to parents and their statutory child-care responsibilities may make it particularly difficult for them to do so. The authors recommend that a dyad of workers from the child-care and community mental health services should share the coordinating key worker role in such cases.     

Community clinic offers access to care. A system and a city collaborate to care for an immigrant population

The Southwest Community Health Clinic (SCHC) has been providing free preventive healthcare to the poor residents of its Houston neighborhood since June 1991. Sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word Health Care System and the city of Houston, the clinic invites healing through hospitality, unlike many free clinics. The family-focused clinic takes a multidisciplinary team approach to preventive healthcare. The staff of approximately 30 healthcare professionals provides prenatal and pediatric care; immunizations; tuberculosis screenings; and a variety of social services for patients' physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. SCHC's well-child program screens children from birth through age five for physical and developmental problems. Clinic staff teach and guide parents on their children's health. The program stresses early identification of developmental delays and disabilities, with referral to appropriate services. SCHC has also implemented a tuberculosis testing program to prevent spread of the disease. Persons who test positive are referred to the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Service's chest clinics for follow-up and treatment. Community outreach is a major ingredient of SCHC's preventive healthcare program. A community health advocate, who is familiar with the cultures, traditions, and languages of the population being served, identifies families needing care and supports their access and use of healthcare services.     

Swedish physicians' perspectives on work and the medical care system--II: The cases of child and maternal health physicians

This paper reports the results of focused interviews with child health and maternal health physicians in the public ambulatory care sector of a large Swedish city to describe (1) the organization of their work activities, (2) their perspectives on their work, and (3) their perspectives on the medical care system. Child health physicians (who were attached to a major teaching hospital) practiced in child health clinics for preschoolers and school health clinics. Each physician covered several such settings. Maternal health physicians were attached to local hospitals and practiced full time in maternal health centers. Child health physicians described their work in terms of preventive care, patient care, integration of ambulatory and hospital services, and technological sophistication; they described the system in terms of quality of care, quality of diagnosis and treatment, adequacy of resources, and distribution of services. Maternal health physicians described work in terms of a biophysical orientation, practice independence, relations with hospitals and other specialists, and dependence on nurses; they described the system in terms of technological sophistication, ambulatory and hospital care, and problems of other specialties. Both were more positive about both work and the system than were district general practitioners, and some interpretation is offered.     

广西柳州市社区卫生服务现状及存在问题调查

[目的]了解广西柳州市社区卫生服务现状及存在问题,为促进广西城市社区卫生服务发展提供依据。[方法]采用整群随机抽样方法,抽取柳州市一个城区,根据桂卫基妇[2003]20号文件中有关要求,确定调查内容。[结果]广西柳州市城区已根据要求建立了社区卫生服务中心(站);这些机构除开展临床医疗服务外,还不同程度开展了预防、保健、康复、健康教育和计划生育工作;政府对社区卫生服务中心(站)未投入资金;全科医师及其他卫生技术人员数量、比例不合理。[结论]为使城市社区卫生服务健康发展,政府应加大城市社区卫生服务的投入;指导、组织卫生技术人员进行全科医学培训;给予政策扶持,使城镇居民医疗保险进入社区     

Children's delayed development and behavior problems: impact on mothers' perceived physical health across early childhood

Mothers of children with developmental delays may experience poorer psychological well-being than other mothers; however, little research has examined how delayed development in children might predict mothers' perceived physical well-being. Children with delayed development manifest heightened behavior problems, which may negatively affect maternal well-being. We examined the associations between developmental delay and behavior problems at child age 3 and mothers' self-perceived physical health at child ages 3, 4, and 5, in families of 218 children with and without developmental delays. The study sample comprised 218 families from central Pennsylvania and Southern California, USA who were recruited through community agencies that provide diagnostic and intervention services for individuals with development difficulties. We found that mothers of children with delayed development at age 3 reported poorer concurrent and later physical health than mothers of children with typical development. Broadening the analyses to include not only child development status (delayed development versus typical development) but also child behavior problems at age 3, only child behavior problems and the interaction of development status and behavior problems, but not development status itself, predicted maternal health. Early child behavior problems contributed to later maternal health above and beyond early maternal health, suggesting a possible causal association between child behavior problems and mothers' physical health. The relation between child behavior problems and maternal health was moderated by mothers' parenting stress and mediated by depressive symptoms. Mothers of children with both delayed development and high behavior problems are a particular risk group that may be especially in need of early intervention. Further research should examine the behavioral and biological pathways by which these child-related stressors influence mothers' physical health.     

Practical measures that improve human rights – towards health equity for Aboriginal children

If Australian public health policy is driven by the need for health equity then program gaps and the unaddressed, health needs of Aboriginal children should be providing unambiguous direction for health sector investments. This, however, is not the case. This paper details the urgent effort required to meet the needs of Aboriginal children and refers to lessons from within Australia and international studies. It provides examples where health policy and programs can be improved in the areas of child nutrition, hearing loss, immunisation coverage, and preventive health assessments. Recommendations include the need for the adoption of a policy framework for maternal and child health, concomitant national performance indicators, nutritional supplementation programs in order to ensure that no Aboriginal child shall suffer from malnutrition in rural and remote Australia, multifaceted measures to enhance the immunisation coverage of Aboriginal children and preventive child health assessments. Underpinning these measures is a need to augment the capacity of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across Australia as these services play a predominant role in delivering preventive health care, community development and support services to the Aboriginal population. Stated commitments to social justice principles have not translated into ‘practical measures’ in Australia for Aboriginal children. There must be unequivocal commitment of a sufficient scale for practical measures to reduce health inequalities.     

社区家庭护理服务内容的探讨

目的探讨社区家庭护理（CHC）服务的内容。方法选择深圳市20家社康中心,抽取20名专家实施两轮针对CHC方面的问卷咨询。另选取社区护士120名,全科医生108名以评测量表对其开展CHC服务内容和工作情况的调查。结果CHC基本服务项目总计31项：可拓展的服务项目主要是一次性导尿和导尿管更换,以及二期以上的压疮护理等：不适合提供的服务项目有替代疗法、静脉高营养的护理、气管切开的护理、B超检查以及性功能改变的调试指导等。社区护士组在基础护理和社区保健方面的工作比例,显著高于全科医生组,而在社区预防和社区康复等方面则显著低于全科医生组,差异均有统计学意义（P均〈0．05）。结论CHC已取得一些进展,但仍需明确职责,规范实施,以最佳水平服务社区人群。     

Curtailment of well child services by a local health department: impact on rural 2-year-olds

The impact of changes in the delivery of well child health services by a rural health department on the reported health status, immunization status, and patterns of health care use is evaluated for poor children born in 1981, when well child clinic services were reduced. Using birth certificate records, all 1981 resident births were enumerated for the case county in Maryland and for a demographically similar comparison county that had continued to operate health department well child clinics. Trained local interviewers tracked and interviewed mothers or guardians of the 1981 cohort. Data were obtained on 567 of 589 eligible children, reflecting a 96 percent response rate. Children in each county were defined as poor if their mothers reported receiving AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), food stamps, or medical assistance or reported annual household incomes of below +5,000. This poverty status indicator was significantly correlated with health department use in the comparison county. Findings indicate that mothers of poor children in both counties were as likely as mothers of nonpoor children to assess their 2-year-old's health status as good, to identify a regular source of preventive care, and to report complete immunizations for their toddler. Although many private physicians in the case county appear to be seeing poor children in their offices, the distribution of study children among physicians was highly skewed. Out of 19 physicians or health facilities in the case county, one pediatrician was reported as the primary source of pediatric care for 52 percent of the 2-year-olds, one-third of whom were poor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Dual provision or duplication? A survey of family planning provision.

BACKGROUND: Family planning has been delivered through dual provision by general practice and community based clinics since its inception. This may be perceived as duplication of services and can be regarded as an area of possible disinvestment in a climate of rising health care costs. AIM: A survey of family planning service provision across a health district was carried out to establish the potential to rationalise current service provision by studying the pattern of service provision in the district and the links between family planning clinics and general practices. METHOD: A postal questionnaire and covering letter were sent to all practices and clinics in May 1997. Following analysis, results were,fed back to clinic staff and general practitioners through accredited meetings. RESULTS: Basic family planning was universally available to the population at all practices and clinics. Clinics offered a wider range of services, especially specialist services for psychosexual counselling and hormonal implants. Very few separate services for young people were identified. Within the primary care sector there was little 'out-of-hours' provision of contraceptive services. Half of the practices responding had used or would use family planning services as referral centres; implants and psychosexual services attracted most referrals. CONCLUSION: An understanding of the complementary nature of the services in primary care and community FP clinics was achieved and agreement was reached that disinvestment in clinics locally was not appropriate. The need to raise public awareness of availability of all contraceptive services was identified. Services in general practice and community clinics are complementary and need to develop a joint strategy to ensure an effective, comprehensive service. Quality of care needs to be examined in future work.     

Mothers' attitudes to a child health clinic in a deprivedarea of Nottingham

Ninety children aged between one and two years registered at a child health clinic in a deprived area of Nottingham were classified according to their frequency of clinic attendance. The mothers of 71 of these children were interviewed in their own homes. There was no evidence that poor clinic attendance was due to confusion about the role of preventive child health services. On the contrary, mothers understood clearly the different purposes of child health clinics and other services. The main reason for poor clinic attendance appeared to be that poor attenders did not believe the functions of the clinic to be useful, important or relevant and preferred to use alternative sources of help or advice. Perceived negative features of the clinic or health visitor acted as a deterrent for an important minority of poor attenders. Children whose health visitors were not based at the clinic were less likely to attend. It is concluded that mothers' reasons for poor clinic attendance are not irrational but are based on attitudes which make their behaviour comprehensible, and which need to be taken into account by the health services.     

Unmet Need and Problems Accessing Core Health Care Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

To investigate the health care experiences of children with autism spectrum disorder, whether they have unmet needs, and if so, what types, and problems they encounter accessing needed care. We address these issues by identifying four core health care services and access problems related to provider and system characteristics. Using data from the 2005?C2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN) we compared children with autism spectrum disorder with children with special health care needs with other emotional, developmental or behavioral problems (excluding autism spectrum disorder) and with other children with special health care needs. We used weighted logistic regression to examine differences in parent reports of unmet needs for the three different health condition groups. Overall unmet need for each service type among CSHCN ranged from 2.5% for routine preventive care to 15% for mental health services. After controlling for predisposing, enabling and need factors, some differences across health condition groups remained. Families of children with autism spectrum disorder were in fact significantly more at risk for having unmet specialty and therapy care needs. Additionally, families of children with autism spectrum disorder were more likely to report provider lack of skills to treat the child as a barrier in obtaining therapy and mental health services. Disparities in unmet needs for children with autism suggest that organizational features of managed care programs and provider characteristics pose barriers to accessing care.     

Australian parents’ use of universal child and family health services: A consumer survey

This study aimed to explore Australian parents’ use of universally available well‐child health services. It used an online survey of 719 parents of children aged from birth to 5 years in all states and territories to examine patterns of service use and consumer preferences. In Australia, several health professional groups provide advice to pregnant women, infants, children, and parents, offering health promotion, developmental screening, parenting support, and referral to specialist health services if required. The survey examined parents’ use of different child and family health providers, and their preferences for support with several common parenting issues. The study indicated that families with young children obtain primary healthcare from a range of service providers, often more than one, depending on children's ages and needs. Parents frequently visit general practitioners for immunisation and medical concerns. They attend dedicated child and family health nurses for parenting advice and well‐child checks and prefer them as an information source for many health issues. However, a substantial proportion of parents (44.1%) do not currently visit a child and family health nurse, often because they not only do not perceive a need but also sometimes because these services are unknown, inaccessible, or considered unsuitable. They may seek advice from less qualified sources. There is potential for increased collaboration between child and family health providers to ensure effective resource use and consistency of parenting information and advice. Nursing services may need to address accessibility and appropriateness of care.     

Pioneers, paediatricians and public health: the evolution of community child health services, Clifton, Nottingham 1983–1999

Since 1976 developments in the training and services provided by general practitioners and community paediatricians have led to a series of changes in clinical services provided for children in the community. A series of studies carried out in the Clifton area of Nottingham from 1983 to 1999 illustrate this. A changing pattern of service delivery is reported in which clinical medical officers provided a largely primary care service in 1983 developing into a paediatric secondary care service in the next decade with the primary health care team having taken over the role of child health surveillance. The community services in the 1990s were taking over the investigation and management of paediatric problems previously seen in the hospital outpatient clinic. The studies illustrate the advantages of locally based services in terms of ease of parental access and consultation between the primary health care team and specialist children's services.     

Antenatal care in Maputo, Mozambique.

Mozambique, within its plan for overall social and economic change, has given priority to primary health care with a principal focus on maternal and child health. In 1980 an antenatal control form was introduced into all Maputo's antenatal clinics to monitor pregnancies and to help direct specialist care to mothers at greatest risk--a strategy known by WHO as the "risk approach." In this study three health centres were selected from contrasting areas of the city. Almost 1000 completed antenatal forms were analysed to determine incidence of risk and to evaluate the implementation of this strategy. It was found that: (1) a considerable number of women at risk were identified, referred, and successfully monitored through their pregnancy. (2) Of those women at risk who were identified by the health centres, fewer than half were actually referred for specialist care. (3) Those women at greatest risk were not the highest users of the services, and many of them underused the services compared with those at lower risk. (4) The level of risk and child mortality varied with a measure of urban quality of the areas in which the centres were located.     

Acceptability of and need for evening community child health clinics

An evening child health clinic in a disadvantaged area of a London borough had similar proportions of clinic appointments kept as day clinics offering the same range of services. However, more fathers (45%) brought their children to evening clinics than to day clinics (20%). The evening clinics were particularly convenient to mothers either in employment or at college. The evening sessions were found to be quieter and quicker, but not hurried, and conducive to discussing more personal problems. Over 50% of attendances were solely to have the child weighed and to discuss the child's weight gain and feeding. Occasionally parents discussed other problems like contraception and postnatal gynaecological difficulties. The health visitor was as important as the medical officer to the success of the evening child health clinic. The evening clinic was acceptable to parents with small children and provided a needed and convenient service to mothers in employment or at college.     

Risk-sharing in rural health care.

Kasturba Hospital in Sevagram, India, has helped to initiate an outreach health program for nearby villages. A health insurance scheme has evolved where the community contributes sorghum for a fund and participates in decision-making and the supervision of village health workers. Contributors are entitled to free primary care and subsidized referral care. Only villages where at least 75% of the poor community agreed to enroll in the health insurance scheme were adopted by the hospital. The hospital offers insured persons free inpatient treatment for unexpected illness and a 75% subsidy for care during normal pregnancy or with cataract and hernia operations. The mobile health team, comprising auxiliary nurse-midwife, social worker, and village health worker, provides maternal and child health services in the localities. The village health workers provide symptomatic drug treatment, exercise a preventive role with the help of visiting health team members, and refer patients to hospital. The auxiliary nurse-midwife and social workers organize visits for vaccination and provide maternal and child health care. The doctor in charge treats patients in the hospital and trains village health workers. More than 75% of the villages in the area have enrolled in the scheme over the last 10 years. No vaccine-preventable illness (measles, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus) was reported in children or mothers after mass immunization was instituted, no maternal deaths have occurred during the past 10 years, and perinatal mortality has fallen steeply. The village health teams are now regarded as counselors on health-related matters, among them drinking-water supplies, irrigation, and programs for income generation. It is necessary to regulate the private health sector, including professionals, the drug industry, and investors. If outpatient services are opened up to the private sector, a system of universal medical insurance, financed by local government, should operate.     

A household study of the pattern of utilization of mother and child health services in rural Greece and variation by socioeconomic status

Summary A household study of all families with children under 6 years in three villages in rural north-west Greece was conducted in August-September 1981. Ninety-four mothers were interviewed about each of their children to find out who they had consulted seeking advice and care during pregnancy, for delivery, in the post-natal period, for child immunization, and in cases of mild or severe child illness. All 142 children were examined physically and developmentally. Information was also collected on the socioeconomic status of the family. Particular causes for concern were the findings that 30% of the mothers said they had experienced at least one induced abortion; 5% had delivered without the help of any trained birth attendant; most of those who delivered in the district town (usually the better off) had received no postnatal care; 37% of children had not seen a doctor in their first year of life either for sickness or for a developmental assessment. Only 41% of children were fully immunized for their age, and 23% of those who should have started their immunizations had not begun. Most of the 30 children who had been severely or chronically ill had bypassed the local doctor and sought services in the district town. There was clear variation in the pattern of use of health services and socioeconomic status as shown by the availability of household facilities including water and electricity. The poorer mothers (30% of the sample) were more likely than the better-off mothers to have delivered at home. Many had had the help of the local midwife, but all those who had no help from a trained attendant came from the poorer families. Post-natal care was provided to most (79%) of these families, by the midwife. The poorer the family the more likely that a sick child would be treated with a home remedy. Children from poor families were likely never to have seen a doctor and if a child did go, it was likely to be older at the time of its first visit. Very few poor families had ever consulted a specialist. Mothers in a better-off situation were more likely to have delivered in the district town at a private clinic with a specialist obstetrician. They were unlikely to have received any post-natal care. Their children were likely to be younger when first taken to the doctor for a routine developmental check-up, usually in the first year of life. Home remedies were less likely to be used for child illnesses. It is suggested that the experienced rural community midwife is providing an excellent service to mothers from all social strata ante-natally; in delivery and post-natal care for poorer mothers, and in informal child care for everyone. She is well respected in the community and knows and is well known to all the children. It is suggested that the trend found for better-off mothers to go to the town for some private health services may undermine the crucial role the midwife has at the village level in rural Greece in pro-tecting the health of the poor and less educated mother.     

Primary Prevention Programs for Children in the Social Service System

Providing effective social services for children and their families at high risk for substance abuse problems is a national concern. The paper presents the prevalence and incidence of children in need of social services due to child maltreatment, child poverty, parental incarceration, parental substance abuse, juvenile justice problems, child mental health and substance abuse problems, and homelessness. Next, the paper examines early childhood family education and family support approaches in primary prevention designed to meet the needs of these children. New research to understand developmental pathways that lead to substance abuse problems in these children is recommended.     

Narrowing the income gaps in preventive care for young children: Families in healthy steps

Persistent unmet preventive and developmental health care needs of children in low-income families are a national concern. Recently, there have been efforts to promote developmental services as part of primary care for all young children. However, there is limited research to determine whether the neediest families are well in universal interventions. In our study, we assessed if disparities persist in utilization of developmental services, well child care, and satisfaction with care among low-, middle-, and high-income families participating in Healthy Steps for Young Children. Healthy Steps is a national experiment that incorporated developmental services into primary care for children from birth to 3 years of age. In the United States, 15 pediatric practices participated in this prospective study. At birth, 2,963 children were enrolled between September 1996 and November 1998 and followed through 33 months of age. The utilization of developmental services, satisfaction with care, and receipt of age-appropriate well child visits were measured at 30–33 months and adjusted for demographic and economic covariates. We found that the adjusted odds of low-income families did not differ from high-income families in receipt of four or more Healthy Steps services, a home visit, or discussing five or more child rearing topics. Low- and middle-income families had reduced adjusted odds of receiving a developmental assessment and books to read. The adjusted odds of low- and middle-income families did not differ from high-income families in being very satisfied with care provided or receiving age-appropriate well child visits. A universal practice-based intervention such as Healthy Steps has the potential to reduce income disparities in the utilization of preventive services, timely well child care, and satisfaction with care.     

Interprofessional Collaboration in Finnish Residential Child Care: Challenges in Incorporating and Sharing Expertise Between the Child Protection and Health Care Systems

Many children taken into care tend to be in need of psychiatric treatment as well as child protection services, and thus the professional expertise of both systems must be coordinated in their care. However, it is widely known across Europe that collaboration between child protection services and mental health services is not working well and the outcomes for looked-after children are poor. In spite of drastic need for knowledge, interprofessional collaboration between residential workers and mental health practitioners is poorly explored in international research. Most importantly, very little is known about shared expertise in multi-agency teams between these systems. Based on the analysis of interprofessional focus group interviews (eight interviews with 17 practitioners) in Finland, it is claimed that both sides have unrealistic expectations and perceptions of the other professional grouping and its facilities to help high-need children. The study also indicates that the collaboration assumes an equality of status and responsibilities between the professionals that does not always exist amongst residential child care practitioners and mental health professionals. The analysis suggests that the concept of residential child care work itself needs more empirical research to strengthen the interprofessional competencies and enhance child-centred integrated care.