Authors: Keane, Brigid; Waterston, Tony; McConachie, Helen; Towner, Elizabeth; Cook, Margaret; Birks, Eileen

Source: Community Practitioner, Volume 78, Number 10, October 2005 , pp. 363-365(3)

Publisher: Community Practitioner

Abstract:

Supporting parents in the first three years of a child's life has the potential to produce successful outcomes. Present government initiatives such as Sure Start focus on this age group. An American educational intervention, in the style of a monthly newsletter, was adapted for use in the UK for parents of young children. Topics were presented in an easy-to-read format and focused on infant emotional development, parent interaction and play. Newsletters, called Baby Express were posted at monthly intervals to the family home providing age-paced information which could meet the specific needs of parents at that stage of their child's life. The aim of the study was to determine the applicability of the newsletter to UK parents and evaluate their satisfaction.

Sixty home-based interviews were conducted and 95 per cent of mothers reported reading all or part of the newsletter. Changes in parenting style were spontaneously reported by 28 per cent of mothers.

This study found that an aged-paced parenting newsletter was an acceptable and useful method of supporting parents in the early months of a child's life and promotes positive changes in parenting behaviour.

Keywords: PARENTING; AGED-PACED INFORMATION; HEALTH EDUCATION; DEPRIVATION; MOTHERS

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2005-10-01

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• Community Practitioner - the journal of the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association (Unite/CPHVA) - has a readership that includes over 20,700 healthcare professionals who work in the community, caring for over 5,000,000 clients, patients and families across the UK. These comprise health visitors, school nurses, district nurses, practice nurses, community paediatric nurses, community nursery nurses and other community-based practitioners.
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