Abstract
BackgroundDental decay in early childhood can be prevented by a model based on shared care utilising members of primary care team such as Child and Family Health Nurses (CFHNs) in health promotion and early intervention. The aims of this study were to identify the facilitators and barriers faced by CFHNs in recruiting research participants from disadvantaged backgrounds to a birth cohort study in South Western Sydney, Australia.MethodsChild and Family Health Nurses recruited mothers-infants dyads (n = 1036) at the first post-natal home visit as part of Healthy Smiles Healthy Kids Study, an ongoing birth cohort study in South Western Sydney. The nurses (n = 19) were purposively selected and approached for a phone based in-depth semi-structured interview to identify the challenges faced by them during the recruitment process. Interviews were audio-recorded, subsequently transcribed verbatim and analysed by thematic analysis.ResultsThe nurses found the early phase of parenting was an overwhelming stage for parents as they are pre-occupied with more immediate issues such as settling and feeding a newborn. They highlighted some key time-points such as during pregnancy and/or around the time of infant teething may be more appropriate for recruiting families to dental research projects. However, they found it easier to secure the family’s attention by offering incentives, gifts and invitations for free oral health services. The use of web-based approaches and maintaining regular contact with the participants was deemed crucial for long-term research. Cultural and linguistic barriers were seen as an obstacle in recruiting ethnic minority populations and the need for cultural insiders in the research team was deemed important to resolve the challenges associated with conducting research with diverse cultures. Finally, nurses identified the importance of inter-professional collaboration to provide easier access to recruiting research participants.ConclusionsThis study highlighted the need for multiple time-points and incentives to facilitate recruitment and retention of disadvantaged communities in longitudinal research. The need for cultural insiders and inter-professional collaboration in research team are important to improve research participation.
Highlights
Dental decay in early childhood can be prevented by a model based on shared care utilising members of primary care team such as Child and Family Health Nurses (CFHNs) in health promotion and early intervention
Dental caries is one of the most common multifactorial chronic disease affecting children [1]. When it occurs in children aged less than 6 years, it is referred to as Early Childhood Caries (ECC) which is defined as the “presence of one or more decayed, missing, or
Since 2007, early childhood oral health training has been available to all health professionals including CFHNs [12] and more recently, the Midwifery Initiated Oral Health program has been introduced in South Western Sydney and Western Sydney [9, 16]
Summary
Dental decay in early childhood can be prevented by a model based on shared care utilising members of primary care team such as Child and Family Health Nurses (CFHNs) in health promotion and early intervention. Since 2007, early childhood oral health training has been available to all health professionals including CFHNs [12] and more recently, the Midwifery Initiated Oral Health program has been introduced in South Western Sydney and Western Sydney [9, 16]. These recent developments are major achievements in early intervention strategies and utilising the shared care model approach is prudent for improving oral health outcomes
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