Child Care Practices Research Articles

Childcare practices among teenage mothers in Ghana: a qualitative study using the ecological systems theory

BackgroundWhile appropriate care for children is essential for optimal growth and protection against child morbidity and mortality, teenage mothers have been shown to deviate from the recommended childcare practices. This study explored the childcare practices among teenage mothers in Ghana using Ecological Systems Theory by Bronfenbrenner as a theoretical framework.MethodsEmploying qualitative approach to inquiry, evidence was drawn from 30 teenage mothers using in-depth interviews. The data were analysed and presented following systematic qualitative-oriented text analysis strategy with verbatim quotes from study participants to support the emergent themes.ResultsIt was evident that teenage mothers have limited skills in childcare practices and often resorted to practices with potentially adverse health outcomes for their children. They, for instance, applied hot towels they had heated with hot stones to the children’s umbilical stump. We found that teenage mothers were not in sync with their macro- and exo-systems, thereby depriving themselves and their babies of the much-needed guidance and support in caring for their babies. Teenage mothers were often confused and sometimes clueless about best childcare practices at a given point in time.ConclusionsChildcare practices by teenage mothers are far from the ideal. To improve on child health (especially children born to teenage mothers), efforts at both the macro- and exo-systems should be directed at exposing teenage mothers to best child care practices that inure to the benefits of their children. Ante- and postnatal visits should be used to provide specific education for mothers, especially first-time teenage mothers on the care needs of babies and how to provide these needs.

Development of a Scale to Measure a Practice of Team Childcare and Analysis of Factors Affecting Team Childcare

Development of a Scale to Measure a Practice of Team Childcare and Analysis of Factors Affecting Team Childcare

Multicultural Childcare Practices of Islamic Preschool in Japan

Multicultural Childcare Practices of Islamic Preschool in Japan

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Caregivers of Children 0 - 23 Months in Eastern and Central Uganda

Introduction: Appropriate feeding and consequently good nutritional status of young children largely depends on their caregivers. Aim: The current study aimed at assessing maternal/caregivers’ current knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs regarding different aspects of infant and young child feeding in Eastern and Central Uganda. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey design with mixed methods employing both qualitative and quantitative methods was used for data collection. Results: The study participants included 556 caregivers and 572 children. Results indicate that most caregivers (77%) were knowledgeable about key infant and young child feeding practices such as breastfeeding, complementary feeding and meal frequency. However, culture and economic hardships were a major barrier to the applicability of this knowledge. Nearly all (98%) children were ever breastfed with 41% having been initiated on breast milk in the first hour after birth and 68% of all the children below 6 months exclusively breastfed. Three percent of the children aged 6 - 23 months were classified as having either Moderate (2%) or Severe (1%) Acute malnutrition. The median birth weight was 3.2 Kgs with nine percent of the children classified as underweight at birth. The majority (78%) of the children consumed foods from at least four food groups however only 44% consumed heme-rich animal flesh food such as meat, poultry, organ meats and fish, 29% consumed milk and milk products while only 11% consumed eggs. The barriers to improved nutritional status and health-seeking behaviour in children from both regions were largely similar. Some of these included cultural practices which prohibit children from eating certain foods and lack of drugs in the health facilities. Lack of male involvement was a key barrier to health-seeking behaviour and the nutritional well-being of children. Males were, however, more knowledgeable about the key childcare practices that are critical to positive outcomes because they listen to radios, have access to social media and usually congregate at bars where this information is disseminated and exchanged. Conclusion: There should be continuous sensitization of mothers on the benefits of breastfeeding with special focus on early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding as well as child feeding practices during illness. To increase protein intake in children 6 - 23 months, interventions aimed at increasing consumption of these vital nutrients such as promotion of nutrition-sensitive agricultural enterprises like rearing of small livestock and chickens should be emphasized. Consumption of these foods is critical, especially during pregnancy and infancy. Finally, male involvement in maternal and child feeding should be encouraged.

Subjectivity study about awareness of disability for integrated childcare practice

Subjectivity study about awareness of disability for integrated childcare practice

El proceso procreativo y la concepción de la persona en el pueblo ticuna del Amazonas peruano

A lo largo de la última década se observa un creciente incremento en la ejecución de programas materno-infantiles basados en concepciones biomédicas. A partir de una investigación etnográfica realizada en comunidades del pueblo ticuna, argumento la necesidad de que estos programas dialoguen con las nociones indígenas sobre cuidados durante el proceso procreativo, reconociendo la existencia de diversas formas de concebir a la persona y su incidencia en las maneras de entender la concepción y las prácticas de cuidado delembarazo, parto y puerperio. Este artículo busca profundizar la forma como el pueblo ticuna concibe la construcción de la persona y su influencia en cada fase del proceso reproductivo, describiendo el rol que cumplen diferentes agentes humanos y no humanos. La investigación etnográfica combinó la observación participante, conversaciones informales y entrevistas semiestructuradas a mujeres y hombres de distintas edades. La información recogida se analizó con la técnica de la cronografía procreativa propuesta por Lázare y Fons (2016) que permite identificar las etapas del proceso procreativo desde el punto de vista exegético.

Experiential Teaching and Learning in Child and Youth Care Work:

The Graduate Diploma in Youth Work is in its fifth year at Concordia University in Montreal. In a department committed to experiential teaching and the training of practitioners, a large focus of the program is to immerse students in experiences that prepare them for engaging in reflexive and theoretically informed approaches to practice. The purpose of this article will be to illustrate our program model through four learning activities that are representative of our unique approach to youth worker education. An additional focus will be the ways in which our model and these activities align with the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice competencies.
 
 A model of integrative youth work education was developed in 2015 by Ranahan, Blanchet-Cohen and Mann-Feder to form the basis for an advanced Graduate Diploma in youth work in Montreal, Quebec (Concordia University, n.d.). The purpose of this article is to share four structured experiential learning activities that illustrate this model. Prior to describing the activities, an overview of our approach to integrative youth work will be provided, along with a discussion of how it aligns with the competencies for practice developed by the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice (ACYCP) (Association for Child and Youth Care Practice, 2010).

“Do You Guys Take Showers with Your Children?”: Gendered Embodiment and the Legitimation of Italian Fathering Practices

This work aims at investigating gendered embodiment in fathering practices in a national context, Italy, where understandings of fatherhood, at the institutional as well as the individual level, are still more centered on the provider ideal than on a model of nurturing and caring fatherhood. This qualitative research on Italian first-time fathers of children under three years of age focused on men’s participation in routine, instrumental, and material childcare practices, exploring the potential for a transformation in both the meanings attached to fatherhood as well as to aspects related to embodiment and constructions of masculinity that sustain inequalities. The findings show that, while participation in hands-on childcare plays an important role in the construction of intimate father-child relationships, a legitimation of men’s bodies’ involvement in interaction with children is still missing, especially for care practices that overlap with constructions of motherhood.

Severe Acute Malnutrition and Feeding Practice of Children Aged 6-59 Months in Pastoral Community, Afar, Ethiopia: Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Severe acute malnutrition remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among children in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Knowing the local burden of SAM has huge importance for public health interventions. Therefore this study aimed to assess the level of severe acute malnutrition and feeding practice of children aged 6–59 months in Abaa’la district, Afar, Northeast, Ethiopia. Methods: Community-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 422 mother-child pairs of children aged 6–59 months. Kebeles were selected randomly after stratifying the district in to urban and rural, and study participants were selected using a cluster sampling technique. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, and child nutritional status was measured using WHO Mid upper arm circumference measuring tape. Data were entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 22 for analysis. The result was presented using Descriptive statistics. Results: The prevalence of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) was found to be 4.3% (95% CI, 2.3-6.1%) and that of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) was 21.1 %. Almost all (98.8%) of children were ever breastfed. Prelacteal feeding and bottle feeding was practiced by 31% and 33.9% of children, respectively. Only 68.5% of children were feed colostrum. Around 45.5% of children were exclusively breastfed for the first six months, and 70.4% of children wean breastfeeding before the age of two years. Conclusion: The prevalence of severe acute malnutrition in the study area was lower than the regional figures, but still, it is a public health priority. There are improper child care and feeding practices. Therefore, public health interventions that can improve those practices should be strengthened.

Workforce Crisis and Opportunity

Child and youth care (CYC) practice significantly contributes to the well-being of children, youth, families, communities, and businesses in the United States. Research conducted over the past 15 years has documented systemic problems that limit the availability of a well-prepared, competent workforce to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding field of CYC. Recent practitioner-led efforts have focused on field building by defining the field of practice, describing the body of knowledge and skills, establishing professionally sanctioned ethics and practice standards, and implementing a national professional credentialing system. This article describes the current state of the field and proposes a vision of a national effort to unify professional development across the field, highlighting current trends, milestones, challenges, and priorities. The current evolution of the CYC profession holds great promise in creating a unified approach to workforce development that can significantly impact the emergence of a competent workforce.

Essential Moral Sources of Ethical Standards in Child and Youth Care Work

It is proposed that an ethical framework for child and youth care practice should take into account the differences between descriptive ethical inquiry on the one hand and normative and analytical ethical inquiry on the other. This will help us avoid the error of deriving our ethical principles from our practices, when in fact what we need is a moral criterion originating outside our practice that is not based on efficiency. Mattingly (1995) suggests this in recommending that we “Develop an ethical vision.” This ethical vision should take into account the domains of morality proposed by Taylor (1989), including respect for human life, issues of what makes a rich, meaningful life, and ideas about dignity. Doing so may provide a moral foundation not just for a code of ethics, but a moral framework for evaluating the entire range of our practice with children and youth.

Attachment Development is “In”

The current focus of research in the discipline of child and youth development is upon attachment development. In the fields of child and youth care practice, efforts are beginning to apply these recent findings to care approaches. In order to sustain the trend, this article outlines concretely, and step-by-step, a study of attachment development and, subsequently, the application of this knowledge to the day-by-day practice of the care of children and youth having to live away from their families.

Maternal knowledge on dietary diversity, child feeding and sanitation practices – A cross-sectional study in north Karnataka

For improving nutrition status and decreasing infant mortality in all countries, the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) recognizes appropriate infant feeding practices to be crucial. To evaluate the nutritional status of children residing in urban slums and to correlate their feeding and sanitary practices of children with child’s nutritional health status. A cross-sectional study was done by interviewing mothers of 120 apparently healthy children aged 1-5 years availing primary care. The day to day practices related to feeding, sanitary practices and child health were enquired. Dietary pattern of the child was collected by 24 hr recall and dietary score was calculated Using Individual Dietary Diversity Score (IDDS). 78.3% mothers breastfed their children. 10% prematurely initiated and 31% delayed the initiation of complementary foods. The meal frequency of the children is 3 times per day in 55% households, 2 times and 4 times per day in 25% household each. 71.7% families had good dietary diversity. However diet of the child detoriated drastically during bouts of illness. The practice of washing hands with soap and water before eating and after defecation was routinely practiced by only 57.5% children. The anthropometric measurements of the children revealed that 58.3% of them were underweight (30.8% severely), 40% of them were wasted (21.6% severely) and 59.1% were stunted (29% severely). Improvement in child care and feeding practices positively impact nutritional status of children. However these interventions need to be implemented at the household level using positive deviance approach and behavioural change communication strategies.

Pre-caregiver experienced in childcare practice Research on stress

Pre-caregiver experienced in childcare practice Research on stress

AFRICAN SPIRITUALITY: UNEARTHING BELIEFS AND PRACTICES FOR THE HELPING PROFESSIONS

Empirical work related to African spirituality in the social sciences, particularly within the social work context, is sparse. It is crucial that practitioners have a deeper understanding of the beliefs and practices that can support therapeutic goals in practice. Using qualitative research methodology, 20 child and youth care students at a selected university in South Africa, who are proponents of African spirituality, were interviewed with regards to their beliefs and practices. The major objective was to gain a richer insight into African spirituality and those African healing methodologies considered most relevant to child and youth care practice. Prayer to the ancestral spirits, sacrificial rituals and music were considered to be some of the most important practices identified that could guide both child and youth care practice and social work.

Parenting and Migration in Academic Publications: What is seen to be ‘Troubling’?

In this chapter the authors examine how parenting in migration context is portrayed in the academic discourse in Lithuania. The authors reveal the depictions of migration-induced child caring practices, based on the results of analysis of academic publications (2004–2017) carried out from January to March 2018 as part of the sub-study of the research project ‘Global Migration and Lithuanian Family: Family Practices, Circulation of Care, and the Return Strategies’. The chapter focus on the portrayal of parenting within the host country, after return from emigration and in transnational family settings. The analysis reveals how value judgements about family life rooted in the low mobility discourse are reproduced in academic publications on family and migration and lead the researchers to portray parenting in migration as ‘troubling’.

Drivers of stunting reduction in Ethiopia: a country case study

ABSTRACTBackgroundChronic undernutrition in children continues to be a global public health concern. Ethiopia has documented a significant decline in the prevalence of childhood stunting, a measure of chronic undernutrition, over the last 20 y.ObjectivesThe aim of this research was to conduct a systematic assessment of the determinants that have driven child stunting reduction in Ethiopia from 2000 to 2016, focused on the national, community, household, and individual level.MethodsThis study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Specifically, a systematic literature review, retrospective quantitative data analysis using Demographic and Health Surveys from 2000–2016, qualitative data collection and analysis, and analyses of key nutrition-specific and -sensitive policies and programs were undertaken.ResultsNational stunting prevalence improved from 51% in 2000 to 32% in 2016. Regional variations exist, as do pro-rich, pro-urban, and pro-educated inequalities. Child height-for-age z score (HAZ) decomposition explained >100% of predicted change in mean HAZ between 2000 and 2016, with key factors including increases in total consumable crop yield (32% of change), increased number of health workers (28%), reduction in open defecation (13%), parental education (10%), maternal nutrition (5%), economic improvement (4%), and reduced diarrhea incidence (4%). Policies and programs that were key to stunting decline focused on promoting rural agriculture to improve food security; decentralization of the health system, incorporating health extension workers to improve rural access to health services and reduce open defecation; multisectoral poverty reduction strategies; and a commitment to improving girls’ education. Interviews with national and regional stakeholders and mothers in communities presented improvements in health service access, women and girls’ education, improved agricultural production, and improved sanitation and child care practices as drivers of stunting reduction.ConclusionsEthiopia's stunting decline was driven by both nutrition-specific and -sensitive sectors, with particular focus on the agriculture sector, health care access, sanitation, and education.

An app-based quick assessment tool for childcare PA environments and practices

Abstract Background Childcare centers are settings with a huge impact on children's health and health behavior and should therefore be encouraged to implement policies and practices to promote physical activity (PA). The project “QueB 2 - developing quality with and through physical activity” aims at exploring how stakeholders can be involved to identify childcare centers with need for action. For this purpose, an app-based quick assessment tool is developed. Methods We conducted two group discussions with stakeholders working with childcare centers (consultants, supervisors) about requirements in terms of applicability and criteria that are important and easily verifiable. Based on the results of the discussions and building on scientific evidence and existing frameworks, a quick assessment checklist was created and developed as a web app. The tool is tested by stakeholders and evaluated in further group discussions. Results Stakeholders require a simple assessment tool that can be used in counseling with small expenditure and is combined with information material. The developed app-based assessment tool consists of 20 items in 7 categories (indoor space, outdoor space, play equipment, activities, childcare center culture, professional development, network). It incorporates a simple scoring system with a total score ranging from 0 to 126. Based on the score, the tool shows a feedback window stating whether there is little, some or much need for action and providing additional information. Conclusions Stakeholders can be involved to sensitize childcare centers to the issue of physical activity environments and practices with the help of an app-based quick assessment tool. This is an important step before possible interventions can be implemented in childcare centers. Key messages An app-based assessment tool for childcare physical activity environments and practices is developed. It will enable stakeholders to identify childcare centers with need for action and offer support.

Play therapy insights into everyday social pedagogical practice in residential child care

Psychotherapy and social pedagogical care, help and support in relation to children placed in out-of-home care are typically perceived as two separate forms of practice. In its typical form, psychotherapy is pictured as a meeting between therapist and client in a ‘therapeutic space’ separated out from daily life and activities, while social pedagogical care, help, and support is carried out in close proximity to everyday life in what is regarded as the person’s home. This article analyses an alternative relationship and way of collaborating between psychotherapy – more specifically play therapy – and everyday social pedagogical practice in residential care for children with severe emotional and behavioural problems. This is done by drawing on an empirical case study of the relationship between everyday practice and expertise of social pedagogical practice and play therapy in a children’s home in Denmark. Meeting the needs of children who have been severely neglected and/or abused is challenging in different ways, and it requires highly developed relational, emotional, and reflective skills. The authors argue that play therapy has a particular potential in foregrounding and developing core social pedagogical knowledge and skills. When designed and carried out as an integrated part of everyday social pedagogical practice, play therapy can support practitioners in integrating a reflective and conscious approach to understanding and meeting the children’s emotional and relational needs with the ability to create and enter into ‘playful encounters’ with the children that challenges one-sided and taken-for-granted power relationships, practices and norms.

保育・教育実習経験による保育専攻短期大学生の保育者効力感(PTE)の変化についての検討 : 実習教育の改善に向けて

保育・教育実習経験による保育専攻短期大学生の保育者効力感(PTE)の変化についての検討 : 実習教育の改善に向けて