Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

There is an increasing recognition that early intervention is important for children with motor disorders. The use of standardized assessment methods within the Swedish Child Health Services (CHS) may improve early identification of these children and thereby their development and quality of care. Given the key role of nurses within the CHS, we explored their experiences of using a structured assessment of motor performance (SOMP-I) in a clinical setting, and investigated possible barriers and facilitators for implementation of the method within the CHS.

METHODS:

The study was conducted in 2013 in Uppsala County, Sweden. Ten child health nurses participated in two focus group interviews, which were analysed using systematic text condensation.

RESULTS:

The analysis yielded three themes: (1) increased knowledge and professional pride - nurses described their desire to provide high-quality care for which SOMP-I was a useful tool; (2) improved parent-provider relationship - nurses felt that using SOMP-I involved both the parents and their infant to a greater extent than routine care; and (3) conditions for further implementation - nurses described that the time and effort needed to master new skills must be considered and practical barriers, such as lack of examination space, resource constraints and difficulties in documenting the assessment must be addressed before implementing the SOMP-I method in routine care.

CONCLUSION:

Child health nurses felt that the SOMP-I method fitted well with their professional role and increased the quality of care provided. However, significant barriers to implementing SOMP-I into routine child health care were described.

Trots att utvecklingen mot en socialt ansvarstagande skola har pågått under lång tid, så är föräldrastödsprogram som levereras i förskolans regi någonting nytt i Sverige. Närheten till både barn och föräldrar har visat sig vara en utmärkt utgångspunkt för den här typen av verksamhet. Föräldrarna litar på pedagogernas kompetens och känner en trygghet i att de känner deras barn väl. Men det medför också utökade arbetsuppgifter och fördjupade ansvarsområden för pedagogerna, då föräldrastöd går utanför den traditionella verksamheten. Det medför i sin tur att pedagogerna i viss mån får en ny roll i sitt arbete med barnen, och även gentemot föräldrarna. Forskning på området är ytterst sparsam, både i Sverige och internationellt. Anledningen till det är att föräldrastöd på förskola är ovanligt, med hittills endast ett genomfört projekt i Sverige.

Objective: To compare three different approaches for consent in postal questionnaire in terms of response rate, time consumption, and  cost-efficiency, and to collect a demographic questionnaire for dropout analyses.

Study Design and Setting: Population survey in Sweden. Mothers and fathers (n=600) of three hundred 3-year olds were divided into three groups. One group was asked to Actively Agree to participate in a cover letter and send consent back to receive the main questionnaire. The second group received the cover letter, the consent, and the main questionnaire in the initial mailings, Direct Delivery. The third group received the cover letter and consent form in which they were asked to Actively Decline  participation within 7 days if they did not want to participate. Otherwise, they were sent the main questionnaire. All parents were asked to fill in a demographic questionnaire regardless of whether they wanted to complete the main questionnaire.

Results: The highest response rate was in the Actively Decline mode. The cost-efficiency for this approach was 1.52 compared with Direct Delivery and 1.29 compared with Actively Agree.

Conclusion: Researchers can improve the response rate, time consumption, and cost-efficiency and obtain a demographic questionnaire for dropout analysis by using the Actively Decline approach for postal questionnaires.