Abstract
Objective:To analyze the effectiveness of an educational intervention with mothers to stimulate children under two years of age at risk for neuropsychomotor development.Method:Before-after intervention study, conducted with 52 mothers of children under two years old, enrolled in reference centers in early childhood education. Initially, maternal knowledge regarding child development and stimulation was assessed through a structured instrument. Then, workshops were held with the mothers and, after three months, maternal knowledge was revised, reapplying the data collection instrument. In the analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics were used, applying the McNemar and Wilcoxon tests and the Rasch Model from the Item Response Theory.Results:after the intervention, there was a significant increase in scores regarding the following aspects: knowledge of mothers about child development and stimulation from 5.77 ± 1.85 to 18.60 ± 1.94 (p <0.001); reduction of the maternal difficulty index in answering the instrument questions from 1.17 ± 0.57 to -1.98 ± 1.63 (p 0.01).Conclusion:the educational intervention contributed to the improvement of maternal knowledge regarding the development and forms of child stimulation, corroborating the importance of this action to advance the health of children at risk under maternal care at home.
Highlights
Child development, initiated in intrauterine life, is defined as a complex and dynamic process related to physical growth, neurological maturation, and progressive acquisition of motor and psychocognitive skills in children[1]. continuous, qualitative and sequential, development may present its chronological course compromised in different domains due to the influence of risk factors, making the child more vulnerable to facing the evolutionary tasks of their life cycle[2]
Risk factors for child development are those of genetic, biological origin and those associated with poor health and housing conditions, inadequate care and education practices, and an affectively disrupted home environment[3]
Most mothers lived in the urban area (51.9%) and had low socioeconomic status. They performed no paid work activities (88.5%), since most of them were dedicated to domestic chores and child care, reducing the monthly per capita family incomethat was below one minimum wage (63.5%)
Summary
Child development, initiated in intrauterine life, is defined as a complex and dynamic process related to physical growth, neurological maturation, and progressive acquisition of motor and psychocognitive skills in children[1]. continuous, qualitative and sequential, development may present its chronological course compromised in different domains due to the influence of risk factors, making the child more vulnerable to facing the evolutionary tasks of their life cycle[2]. Risk factors for child development are those of genetic, biological origin and those associated with poor health and housing conditions, inadequate care and education practices, and an affectively disrupted home environment (environmental risk)(3). Cumulative exposure to these risk factors still in childhood may reflect negatively on maturing brain function, increasing the chances of motor, cognitive, behavioral and/or language disorders, which notably affect overall development and the child’s learning process[4]. A study found that 43% of children under five (about 250 million) living in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of developmental delays that, early in life, may lead to health and learning problems and inadequate nutrition, reflecting in low wages in adulthood, as well as social tensions, with negative consequences for the present generation, and for the future ones[6]
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