Stress responses of child care providers to classroom activities and childhood behaviors involving HIV/AIDS

Child care providers in a southeastern state were asked to indicate their level of stress when responding to classroom activities and childhood behaviors involving a child who tests positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). No significant correlations were found between the providers' stress responses and their professional background. Significant correlations were found between the providers' stress responses and their knowledge of HIV transmission and agreement with HIV child care policies. Follow up chi-square analysis revealed that a majority of providers reported low to slight stress when considering individual classroom activities in association with an HIV-positive (HIV+) child. Likewise, a significant majority of the providers reported low to slight stress when considering low-threat behaviors associated with an HIV+ child. In contrast, a significant majority of the providers reported moderate to great stress when considering high-threat behaviors associated with an HIV+ child. Implications of these findings are addressed for nurse educators who provide training to child care providers regarding young children who are HIV+.     

The keys to healthy family child care homes intervention: Study design and rationale

BackgroundObesity is a major public health problem for which early preventive interventions are needed. Large numbers of young children are enrolled in some form of child care program, making these facilities influential environments in children's development. Family child care homes (FCCH) are a specific type of child care in which children are cared for within the provider's own residence. FCCHs serve approximately 1.5 million children in the U.S.; however, research to date has overlooked FCCH providers and their potential to positively influence children's health-related behaviors.MethodsKeys to Healthy Family Child Care Homes (Keys) is a cluster-randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of an intervention designed to help providers become healthy role models, provide quality food- and physical activity-supportive FCCH environments, and implement effective business practices. The intervention is delivered through workshops, home visits, tailored coaching calls, and educational toolkits. Primary outcomes are child physical activity measured via accelerometry data and dietary intake data collected using direct observation at the FCCH. Secondary outcomes include child body mass index, provider weight-related behaviors, and observed obesogenic environmental characteristics.ConclusionKeys is an innovative approach to promoting healthy eating and physical activity in young children. The intervention operates in a novel setting, targets children during a key developmental period, and addresses both provider and child behaviors to synergistically promote health.     

Child and Provider Restraints in Ambulances: Knowledge, Opinions, and Behaviors of Emergency Medical Services Providers

Background: Approximately 16,000 children are transported by ambulances each day, and there are an estimated 4,500 ambulance crashes each year. Information about emergency medical services (EMS) provider knowledge, opinions, and behaviors regarding occupant restraint is lacking. Objectives: To measure the knowledge, opinions, and behaviors of EMS personnel regarding child and provider restraint use in ambulances. Methods: A survey was given to all EMS providers in two large ambulance‐service organizations and in a hospital‐based pediatric ambulance service in a midsized urban area. Results: A total of 302 EMS providers were surveyed, for a return rate of 67.7%. Nearly half were involved in an ambulance crash at least once; of those, 7.6% were injured and 1% had patients in their care injured. The majority (91%) reported some training in child‐restraint use in ambulances, and half reported that they know a lot or very much about securing a critically ill child for transport. However, 30% did not identify the correct method of transport for a stable 2‐year‐old, and 40% did not choose the correct method of securing a child seat to the ambulance cot. Securing a child seat to the cot was viewed by 81% to not take too much time from patient care, and 63% did not view caring for a child in a car seat as difficult. Although 80% of providers regularly transported children in a car seat, 23% transported them on an adult's lap at least sometimes. Specialized pediatric‐transport providers were more likely to report safe pediatric and occupant restraint practices than were community EMS providers. Pediatric restraint behaviors were not associated with years of service or history of a crash. Two thirds of respondents reported not wearing their seatbelt on the squad bench while treating patients, and half believe that wearing a seatbelt interferes with patient care. A total of 95% report wearing seatbelts in the front seat of the ambulance. Provider seatbelt use in the patient compartment was not associated with years of service, with number of crashes, or with reporting correct use of pediatric restraints. Conclusions: This study indicates that the frequency of crashes in ambulances, and therefore the potential for injury, may be underappreciated. Current restraint practices of some of the study group are outside recommendations and may be placing at risk some children who are being transported by ambulances. This problem is complicated by the relative infrequency of pediatric ambulance transports compared with adults. Improved equipment and education may help providers safely transport pediatric patients. In addition, providers are risking their own safety by not wearing seatbelts in the rear ambulance compartment. Improved equipment may help alleviate this risk and allow providers to take care of patients safely.     

The FOOTPRINTS model of pediatric palliative care

Little is known about the optimal context in which to provide care for the more than 53,000 children who die each year in the United States. Poor training in pediatric palliative care contributes to care that is often fragmented and may neglect the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs of the child and family. Pediatric hospice care is frequently not available or not chosen by the family or health care providers. In response to a critical need to move beyond the disease oriented, hospital-based model with a lack of continuity between hospital and community-based medical services, we developed FOOTPRINTS, an innovative program of advanced care planning and care coordination. A continuity physician directs the treatment plan regardless of site of care. Staff members coordinate follow up and communication among hospital and community-based care providers. Spiritual support continues through bereavement. Education in the hospital and community supports provision of excellent palliative care by current providers. Satisfaction with this model of care has been high. More than 90% of health care providers and families perceived that the child and family needs as well as the health care provider needs were met by the advanced care planning process and written care plan. All continuity providers would refer another patient. The FOOTPRINTS program promotes quality of care and family and health care provider satisfaction with care. It has been developed to serve as a "best practice" model for care at life's end.     

Assessing the psychosocial impact of the ICD: a national survey of implantable cardioverter defibrillator health care providers

The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) provides a survival advantage over antiarrhythmic medications for patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. However, the effect of ICD therapy on quality-of-life and psychosocial functioning are not as well understood. Health care providers (e.g., physicians, nurses) can serve as a valuable source of information related to these ICD outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate health care provider perceptions regarding: (1) the quality-of-life and psychosocial functioning of their ICD recipients, (2) the concerns or problems reported by ICD recipients, and (3) the degree of provider comfort in managing these concerns. The final sample of health care providers (n = 261) rated ICD recipients' global quality-of-life and psychosocial functioning, and specific concerns about health care, lifestyle, special population adjustment, marital and family adjustment, and emotional well-being. With regard to quality-of-life, health care providers reported that the majority of ICD recipients were functioning better (38%) or about the same (47%) than before implantation. However, health care providers reported that 15% of recipients experienced worse quality-of-life postimplantation. Similarly, health care providers indicated that 10%-20% of ICD recipients experienced worse emotional functioning and strained family relationships. Moreover, issues related to driving, dealing with ICD shocks, and depression were the most common ICD recipient concerns. Significant differences were noted between physicians and nurses/other health care professionals on a wide range of psychosocial issues. Health care providers generally reported the most comfort dealing with traditional medical issues (i.e., patient adherence), and the least comfort in managing emotional well-being issues (e.g., depression and anxiety). These results suggest that routine attention to ICD quality-of-life and psychosocial outcomes is indicated for health care providers who care for ICD recipients.     

Creating a child abuse policy that reflects an ethic of care

The primary purpose of child abuse policy is to guide the action of health care providers and so ensure that the fundamental rights of those the policy intended to protect are not compromised. This discussion paper explores the ethical considerations underlying child abuse policy from bioethical and from caring ethical perspectives, both of which are outlined briefly. A process that could be used to create or analyse existing child abuse policy, in relation to underlying ethical considerations, definitions of child abuse, level of health care, resourcing needs and relationship to employment policy is outlined. A hypothetical example of such a policy is used to illustrate elements of this process. Assuming that policy is designed to direct action, it is argued that if child abuse policies were rewritten to reflect an ethic of care the quality and scope of health care provided to children and their families would improve. Consequently, stated government objectives of improving child health services, as well as primary health care aims of achieving equitable, accessible and affordable health care for children in New Zealand would be better facilitated.     

The complexity of care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: metrics for better understanding chronic disease care

BACKGROUND: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) provide an important opportunity for understanding care of patients with a serious chronic condition. OBJECTIVES: We sought to characterize the complexity of care for patients with RA, including metrics describing the patient, the disease, and use of the health care system across time and place. METHODS: We undertook a prospective cohort study of 568 community-dwelling patients with RA by using observational data from clinically detailed telephone interviews at baseline and 2 years later in addition to medical record abstraction. Health status, comorbidity, use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, visits, providers, provider types, encounter settings, and the discontinuity between patients and providers were studied. RESULTS: Within a 12-month window, 568 patients had 8686 outpatient encounters with the health care system with a mean of 3.41 unique providers per patient associated with a mean of 5 primary care and 6 rheumatologist visits. Half did not see a primary care physician, and 20% did not see a rheumatologist during 6-month periods despite their use of potentially toxic drugs, a mean of 4 comorbidities and progressive RA. Over the course of 24 months, 29% of patients changed their primary care provider, and 15% changed their rheumatologist. Patients were moderately impaired with mean SF-12 physical component score 37 (SD, 9). CONCLUSION: Patients with RA have frequent encounters with multiple providers and also frequent discontinuity of care. Recognizing the complexity of the care of patients with a chronic disease across multiple dimensions provides an opportunity to better understand challenges and opportunities in delivering high quality care.     

Barriers to care among American Indians in public health care programs

OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine the extent to which reported barriers to health care services differ between American Indians (AIs) and non-Hispanic Whites (Whites). METHODS: A statewide stratified random sample of Minnesota health care program enrollees was surveyed. Responses from AI and White adult enrollees (n=1281) and parents of child enrollees (n=572) were analyzed using logistic regression models that account for the complex sample design. Barriers examined include: financial, access, and cultural barriers, confidence/trust in providers, and discrimination. RESULTS: Both AIs and Whites report barriers to health care access. However, a greater proportion of AIs report barriers in most categories. Among adults, AIs are more likely to report racial discrimination, cultural misunderstandings, family/work responsibilities, and transportation difficulties, whereas Whites are more likely to report being unable to see their preferred doctor. A higher proportion of adult enrollees compared with parents of child enrollees report barriers in most categories; however, differences between parents of AIs and White children are more substantial. In addition to racial discrimination and cultural misunderstandings, parents of AI children are more likely than parents of White enrollees to report limited clinic hours, lack of respect for religious beliefs, and mistrust of their child's provider as barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Although individuals have enrolled in health care programs and have access to care, barriers to using these services remain. Significant differences between AIs and Whites involve issues of trust, respect, and discrimination. Providers must address barriers experienced by AIs to improve accessibility, acceptability, and quality of care for AI health care consumers.     

Ill health and use of medical care. Community-based assessment of morbidity in children

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between morbidity and ambulatory care utilization in a randomly selected sample of children with stable patterns of use of services in a prepaid multispecialty group practice. The unique features of the approach were a focus on long-term relationships (over 8 years) and on assessment of health status by a combination of parent reports, child reports, teacher reports, and physical examination. Domains of health status that were assessed included types and frequencies of health conditions and disability associated with them, functional status (physical health, mental health, social health, general well-being), school absence, vision and hearing screening, and physical abnormalities. Children with persistently high levels of use of services in a 6-year period (1974-79) were more likely to have health problems of all types, both concurrent and in a subsequent 2-year period (1980-81) than children with lower levels of use. As these findings were in agreement with those obtained in a study where morbidity was determined by diagnoses recorded in medical records, it is likely that the measures could be more generally useful to assess child health status in the community. Moreover, they distinguish groups of children who differ in their pattern of use of services and hence may be useful in the planning and budgeting of services for child populations.     

Health assessment in child care centers: parent and staff perceptions

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify preschool children's health needs in child care centers, as perceived by parents and staff. METHOD: A Health Care Services Assessment was completed by 55 parents and 13 staff in four urban child care centers to identify the health services needed and children's common health problems. FINDINGS: The majority (69%) of the parents and staff reported that onsite health services were needed at least once a week. Helpful health services were identified as screening exams for respiratory illnesses (88%), other illnesses (87%), developmental problems (51%), and children with special needs (50%). The most commonly identified child health problems were colds (93%) and ear infections (75%). CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that efforts to protect the health of preschool children in child care centers might best begin with health services focused on prevention, such as screening children for illnesses and providing information on infection control.     

Caregiver Practices of Families of Children with and Without Physical Disability

Reports suggest children with physical disability are at greater risk than peers for negative caregiver interactions. The environmental, parental, and child characteristics associated with variation in caregiver practices among families of children with (n?=?450) and without physical disability (n?=?450) in a nationally representative sample from the U.S. Agreement and variation about the shared meaning of “caregiver practices” were measured using consensus analysis. Associated parent, child, and family characteristics were identified using regression analysis. Parents did not spank, hit back, yell, ignore, put to work, or make fun of their children as a punishment. Parents maintained rules set about eating, bedtime, chores, and watching television. They reported playing with children, preparing food for them, going to religious services, reading, singing songs, and telling stories with their children. They reported not being involved in organized exercise and art classes. Child’s socio-emotional skills and behaviors (β?=??.331), socio-economic status (β?=??.223), the influence of religion on raising child (β?=??.180), race/ethnicity of the parent (β?=??.071), and physical disability (β?=??.104) explained 24 % of the variance in caregiver practices (F?=?32.34, p?<?.000). More negative caregiver practices are associated with families of children with lower levels of socio-emotional skills and behaviors, lower socio-economic status, less religious influence on child rearing practices, who are not Euro-American, or whose children have physical disability. Children’s socio-emotional skills and behaviors explained the largest amount of variance in caregiver practices, not disability status. Health professionals working with children with physical disability should target developing socio-emotional skills to support positive child-parent interactions and promote positive outcomes.     

Parents' perceptions of quality health care

PURPOSE: To examine differences in definitions of health care quality and the importance of indicators of quality between consumers with dependent children and consumers with no dependents. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This was an exploratory study using a convenience sample of 229 consumers--96 with one or more dependent children and 133 with no dependent children. Consumers were asked four open-ended questions as to their definitions of health care and nursing care quality. Consumers then rated the importance of 27 indicators of quality care. RESULTS: There were no differences between parents with dependent children and other consumers in how quality care was defined. Important indicators of quality nursing care to parents with children were: Being cared for by nurses who are up to date, well informed, and certified in their specialty; being able to communicate with the nurse; spending enough time with the nurse; and teaching by the nurse. Although having access to midwives was of lowest importance to consumers overall, it was significantly more important to subjects with children (p < 0.05). Getting care and services when needed was also more important to parents than to consumers without children (p = 0.05). Parents gave more importance to their interactions with the nurse than did subjects without children (t = 1.93, df = 229, p = 0.05). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Parents and consumers without children have similar views of what constitutes quality nursing care--having nurses who are concerned about them and their children, demonstrating caring behaviors and staying attentive to their needs, being competent and skilled, communicating effectively, and providing the teaching needed for managing their own and their family's health problems.     

Continuity of care and caring: what matters to parents of children with life-threatening conditions

This article presents parents' perceptions regarding continuity and coordination of care of children with life-threatening conditions as revealed through qualitative analysis of interviews with 36 bereaved parents of children who died after receiving care at three geographically dispersed teaching hospitals in the United States. Parental concerns about and experience of continuity of care were framed primarily in terms of the quality and continuity of relationships with healthcare providers throughout a child's illness and death and the continuity and consistency of information that they received about their child's condition and care. Continuity in relationships was perceived as key in ensuring that clinicians knew and cared about the child and parents, which in turn contributed to parents' confidence that their child would receive the best possible care. In the absence of continuous, caring relationships with staff, parents reported frustration, hypervigilance, and mistrust about the quality of care that their child received.     

Adherence with hypertension care among Hmong Americans

To assess contexts of adherence with hypertension care among Hmong Americans, in-person interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 323 adults using culturally adapted survey instruments. The mean age of participants was 58 years; 91% had no education, and 86% spoke no English. Although more than 90% had health insurance and were treated with medications, the rate of blood pressure control was low (27%). A majority (> 90%) suffered from psychological distress, and 46% lived with physical illness. Over 50% reported nonadherence with hypertension care. Respondents who were 50 years of age or older, had no physical illness, did not know that hypertension was preventable, or believed that American medicine was too strong, were more likely to report nonadherence with proper medication consumption. Findings suggest that adherence was not due to lack of health care coverage; instead, it may be due to gaps in health services.     

Parent-Led Activity and Nutrition (PLAN) for healthy living: design and methods

Child obesity has become an important public health concern, especially in rural areas. Primary care providers are well positioned to intervene with children and their parents, but encounter many barriers to addressing child overweight and obesity. This paper describes the design and methods of a cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate a parent-mediated approach utilizing physician's brief motivational interviewing and parent group sessions to treat child (ages 5–11 years) overweight and obesity in the primary care setting in Southern Appalachia. Specific aims of this pilot project will be 1) to establish a primary care based and parent-mediated childhood overweight intervention program in the primary care setting, 2) to explore the efficacy of this intervention in promoting healthier weight status and health behaviors of children, and 3) to examine the acceptability and feasibility of the approach among parents and primary care providers. If proven to be effective, this approach may be an exportable model to other primary care practices.     

Spinal muscular atrophy type 1 quality of life

OBJECTIVE: To compare healthcare professionals' assessment of the quality of life of spinal muscular atrophy type 1 children with that of the care providers for the children. DESIGN: The care providers of all 53 surviving spinal muscular atrophy type 1 children managed in one neuromuscular disease clinic were sent Likert-scale surveys of six quality of life issues and ten polar-adjective pairs. The quality of life estimations were compared with those of 67 clinicians and with those of 30 parents considering their unaffected children. RESULTS: One hundred care providers from 46 out of the 53 families (87%) responded. Although the clinicians' mean estimate of the children's quality of life was 2.85 +/- 0.2/10, the care providers' estimate was 7.81 +/- 0.2/10 (P < 0.0001). The care providers also found life with the children to be satisfying (6.0 +/- 0.2/7), interesting (6.6 +/- 0.1/7), friendly (6.1 +/- 0.1/7), enjoyable (6.3 +/- 0.1/7), worthwhile (6.7 +/- 0.1/7), full (6.6 +/- 0.1/7), hopeful (5.9 +/- 0.2/7), and rewarding (6.4 +/- 0.1/7), and they estimated the children to be happy (8.5 +/- 0.2/10) and their lives worth living (9.6 +/- 0.1/10). However, 69 of 104 felt that their lives were hard rather than easy, and 56 of 104 reported feeling tied down rather than free. Although the effort they felt for raising the child was high (8.3 +/- 0.3 by comparison with 5 for an unaffected child), the burden they felt in doing so was not (5.8 +/- 0.3/5). When asked whether they would or would not recommend ventilator use, 31 clinicians (45.5%) indicated they would, 24 (36.4%) would not, and 12 (18.2%) chose not to respond to this question. Care provider responses did not differ significantly from the responses of the parents of unaffected children except for the easy/hard semantic differential (care providers, 3.80 +/- 1.75 controls, 5.27 +/- 1.14, < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although there is a widespread perception that spinal muscular atrophy type 1 children have a poor quality of life, this perception is not shared by their care providers.     

Child care use by low-income single mothers of preschoolers born preterm versus those of preschoolers born full term

This study describes prewelfare reform child care use by 64 primarily low-income single mothers (65.6% African American) with preschoolers (half born preterm). Forty percent used child care for more than 75% of their children's lives, 20% did when not employed. Preschool children born preterm were more likely to receive child care from nonrelatives throughout their lives than children born full term. Children with health problems used a greater number of child care arrangements. Findings suggest addressing child care issues with both employed and nonemployed mothers and adequacy of child care for children with special needs.