Child Care Workers Research Articles

Understanding multifactorial drivers of child stunting reduction in Exemplar countries: a mixed-methods approach

ABSTRACTBackgroundSeveral countries have notably reduced childhood stunting relative to economic growth over the past 15–20 y. The Exemplars in Stunting Reduction project, or “Exemplars,” studies success factors among these countries with a lens toward replicability.ObjectivesThis paper details the standardized mixed-methods framework for studying determinants of childhood stunting reduction applied in Exemplars studies.MethodsAn expert technical advisory group (TAG), criteria for identifying Exemplar countries, evidence-based frameworks, mixed methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, policy, literature review), effective research partnerships, case study process and timeline, and data triangulation and corroboration are presented.ResultsExperts in health, nutrition, and evaluation methods were selected at the study outset to provide technical support to all phases of research (TAG). Exemplar countries were selected by the TAG, who considered quantitative data (e.g., annual rates of stunting change compared with economic growth, country population size) and qualitative insights (e.g., logistics of country work, political stability). Experienced country research partners were selected and an inception meeting with stakeholder consultations was held to launch research and garner support. Evidence-based conceptual frameworks underpinned all Exemplars research activities. A systematic review of published peer-reviewed and grey literature was undertaken, along with in-depth policy and program analysis of nutrition-specific and -sensitive investments. Both descriptive and advanced quantitative analysis was undertaken (e.g., equity analyses, difference-in-difference regression, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition). Qualitative data collection using in-depth interviews and focus groups was conducted with national and community stakeholders (i.e., child care workers and mothers) to understand country experiences. The case study process was iterative, and all research outputs were triangulated to develop the stunting reduction narrative for each country. Findings were shared with country experts for weigh-in and corroboration through dissemination events.Conclusions Exemplars research uses a mixed-methods framework for studying positive outliers that can be applied across diverse health and development outcomes.

“Essential” services, risk, and child protection in the time of COVID-19: An opportunity to prioritize chronic need

In many North American jurisdictions, socioeconomically vulnerable families are more likely to be involved with child protection systems and experience ongoing challenges. The current public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on these families via unemployment, “essential” work, isolation, and closures of childcare and schools, with negative implications for children’s developmental wellbeing. Experts warn that while child protection referrals have gone down, children who are at risk of maltreatment are less exposed to typical reporters (e.g., school professionals). At the same time, physical distancing measures are prompting many human service settings to shift toward virtual intervention with children and families. In this commentary, we suggest that a focus on short-term risk in the response to COVID-19 may obscure support for children’s long-term outcomes. We propose two policy considerations: (1) in the immediate term, that child protection workers be deemed “essential”; and (2) in the longer term, that permanent, universal basic income guarantees be implemented to support a baseline of predictability both in families’ material wellbeing and in fiscal budgets in the case of a future crisis. As we write, it is impossible to predict the longevity of these closures nor the extent of their impact on children and families. However, the present article mirrors commentary following previous crises noting the importance of going beyond immediate health risk mitigation to consider wellbeing with regard to children’s development and families’ socioeconomic needs in the long term.

Childcare Teachers' Safety Education for Children, Experience of Safety Accidents, and Response to Safety Accidents - Focusing on work childcare centers -

Childcare Teachers' Safety Education for Children, Experience of Safety Accidents, and Response to Safety Accidents - Focusing on work childcare centers -

Cause for concerns: gender inequality in experiencing the COVID-19 lockdown in Germany

ABSTRACT COVID-19 is having a tremendous impact on gender relations, as care needs have been magnified due to schools and day-care closures. Using topic modeling on over 1,100 open reports from a survey fielded during the first four weeks of the lockdown in Germany, we shed light on how personal experiences of the lockdown differ between women and men. Our results show that, in general, people were most concerned about social contacts and childcare. However, we find clear differences among genders: women worried more about childcare while men were more concerned about paid work and the economy. We argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting women more heavily than men not only at the physical level of work (e.g. women are reducing more paid work hours than men), but also through increasing the division regarding the cognitive level of work (e.g. women are more worried about childcare work while men are about paid work). These developments can potentially contribute to a future widening of the gender wage gap during the recovery process.

Gendered labour and work, even in pandemic times.

Gendered labour and work, even in pandemic times.

Strategies used by child and youth care workers in to develop belonging and foster healthy attachments with young people in care in child and youth care centers in Tshwane, South Africa

There are an estimated 21,000 children in Child and Youth Care Centres in South Africa. They come from backgrounds of neglect and abuse. Such experiences in early childhood influence the formation of secure attachments, and may have an effect on relational functioning lifelong. The South African welfare system has adopted the circle of courage as a framework for positive youth development. Child and youth care workers are required to implement the circle of courage in child and youth care centres. The circle of courage has four quadrants; belonging, mastery, independence and generosity. The concept of belonging shares close conceptual links with attachment theory. Little is known about how child and youth care workers develop attachments and belonging with children in their care. This qualitative study, conducted in four child and youth care centres in the Tshwane region of South Africa, presents some techniques used by child and youth care workers to develop belonging. These include creating a welcoming environment, orienting young people to the child and youth care centre, meeting the child’s physiological needs, setting rules and boundaries, verbalizing affection for young people in care, physical contact and explaining the circumstances that brought them together. We conclude that these findings can be used to develop child and youth care training and to operationalize the concept of belonging in child and youth care settings.

How do live-in domestic workers differ from live-out domestic workers? An analysis of demographics and work characteristics

This study uses nationally representative data to examine differences in income, usual hours worked and other selected characteristics between live-in and live-out domestic employees, focusing on maids/housekeepers, childcare workers and personal care aides. American Community Survey data of n = 8,620 domestic workers are used for the five-year period spanning 2012–16. Regression modelling reveals that live-in employees work significantly more weekly hours than live-out employees while concurrently earning lower annual incomes. This study largely confirms the findings of multiple prior qualitative studies of the differences between live-in and live-out domestic work, with the benefit of drawing from a uniquely large sample.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME FOR CHILD-CARERS IN PRIVATE PLACES OF TEMPORARY SAFE-CARE

The article purpose of the article is to report on an empowerment programme for child-carers in private places of temporary safe-care so as to equip them with skills to act in the best interest of the children in their care. The programme was compiled on the basis of a needs assessment with child-care workers and social workers involved in private places of temporary safe-care, as well as a literature study. The programme consisted of nine sessions, including topics such as factors to be considered when dealing with these children, trauma, medical care, behavioural problems, bonding, discipline, natural parents and self-care of child-carers.

The Way in Which Child and Youth Care Workers in South Africa Cope with Psychosocial Challenges

Child and youth care workers deal with the psychosocial challenges experienced by young people in their care and may as a result themselves experience stress, anxiety and depression. This paper explores the psychosocial challenges experienced by child and youth care workers in South Africa, and the coping strategies that they apply. A collective case study design within a qualitative approach was used. Purposive sampling was used, with the sample consisting of 93 participants from government and non-governmental organisations based in rural, semi-urban and urban areas across the six provinces of South Africa. An interview schedule was designed to collect qualitative data from 11 focus group interviews. Data analysis was divided into data reduction, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions. Psychosocial challenges identified by the participants were the inability to disengage from the work environment, disengagement from social activities, personal trauma, invasion of personal boundaries, and emotional well-being issues. The following broad coping strategies were identified: non-existent coping mechanisms, personal missions, substance abuse, withdrawal, and thoughts of quitting. Child and youth care workers experience a range of psychosocial challenges but have established a range of mostly adequate and contextually relevant coping strategies. The paper recommends that child and youth care workers find a healthy balance between their personal and professional life, timeously seek psychosocial support, and keep on developing themselves to acquire skills that will enhance their practice and broaden their scope of practice.

Universal Basic Income as a Way of Redistribution of Experience between Individuals and Groups

This article reviews the possible role of the universal basic income in the transformation of experience in gender and age perspectives. The universal basic income has been particularly hotly debated in recent decades. Regardless of the position, the common tone of the debates is the imperative “we must experiment.” Such a close interest in the universal basic income derives from the fact that it threatens to change the “generic” for humans situation of finiteness of resources and the need to work. Thus, it is able to change the experience of what it means to be human. Since the universal basic income allows to separate labor from income, it is likely that its introduction will return value to the currently stigmatized or devalued types of labor, such as child care, elderly care or domestic work. It creates opportunities for experience redistribution in gender perspective: care and leaving (career break), affective connection, and sensitivity could become the business of both parents, not just mothers. Another experience redistribution is possible in age perspective. Along with automation of labor, population ageing is a universal process that will sooner or later affect all the countries. Alarmist narratives that present this process as a threat and a problem now prevail. They are largely based on outdated ideas about old age and what it means to be old. However, in fact, ageing is the maturation of the population as a whole. With a proper re-evaluation of the meaning and significance of old age, the introduction of the universal basic income could create material conditions for the transfer of experience from the elderly to the younger – for the first time since traditional societies.

Increases in Health-Related Workplace Absenteeism Among Workers in Essential Critical Infrastructure Occupations During the COVID-19 Pandemic - United States, March-April 2020.

During a pandemic, syndromic methods for monitoring illness outside of health care settings, such as tracking absenteeism trends in schools and workplaces, can be useful adjuncts to conventional disease reporting (1,2). Each month, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) monitors the prevalence of health-related workplace absenteeism among currently employed full-time workers in the United States, overall and by demographic and occupational subgroups, using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS).* This report describes trends in absenteeism during October 2019-April 2020, including March and April 2020, the period of rapidly accelerating transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Overall, the prevalence of health-related workplace absenteeism in March and April 2020 were similar to their 5-year baselines. However, compared with occupation-specific baselines, absenteeism among workers in several occupational groups that define or contain essential critical infrastructure workforce† categories was significantly higher than expected in April. Significant increases in absenteeism were observed in personal care and service§ (includes child care workers and personal care aides); healthcare support¶; and production** (includes meat, poultry, and fish processing workers). Although health-related workplace absenteeism remained relatively unchanged or decreased in other groups, the increase in absenteeism among workers in occupational groups less able to avoid exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (3) highlights the potential impact of COVID-19 on the essential critical infrastructure workforce because of the risks and concerns of occupational transmission of SARS-CoV-2. More widespread and complete collection of occupational data in COVID-19 surveillance is required to fully understand workers' occupational risks and inform intervention strategies. Employers should follow available recommendations to protect workers' health.

POISED TO ADVOCATE

Advocacy is an integral part of child and youth care workers’ roles and a significant component of child and youth care politicized praxis and radical youth work. Drawing from the qualitative data of a mixed-methods study conducted in 2019 at a Canadian metropolitan university, this study seeks to unpack how the pedagogy of the lightning talk can foster advocacy skills to effectively and spontaneously speak out with and on behalf of children, youth, and families in everyday practice when an unforeseen systemic challenge or barrier arises. A purposive sample of 70 undergraduate students was recruited in two child and youth care courses, both of which required students to present a lightning talk. Participants completed an online questionnaire with closed-ended and open-ended questions in order to share their perspectives of the pedagogy of the lightning talk. The findings show that the lightning talk fosters twenty-first century and metacognitive skills and, most importantly, advocacy skills.

INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL ISSUE

This special issue aims to explore Canadian pedagogical and curricular practices in child and youth care and youth work preservice education with an emphasis on empirical and applied studies that centre students’ perspectives of learning. The issue includes a theoretical reflection and empirical studies with students, educators, and practitioners from a range of postsecondary programs in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. The empirical articles use various methodologies to explore pedagogical and curricular approaches, including Indigenous land- and water-based pedagogies, ethical settler frontline and teaching practices, the pedagogy of the lightning talk, novel-based pedagogy, situated learning, suicide prevention education, and simulation-based teaching. These advance our understanding of accountability and commitment to Indigenous, decolonial, critical, experiential, and participatory praxis in child and youth care postsecondary education. In expanding the state of knowledge about teaching and learning in child and youth care, we also aspire to validate interdisciplinary ways of learning and knowing, and to spark interest in future research that recognizes the need for education to be ethical, critically engaged, creatively experiential, and deeply culturally and environmentally relevant.

The role of child-keyworker attachment in burnout among Saudi residential staff.

Research on the impact of the keyworker-child relationship on residential staff is scarce. This longitudinal study investigated the potential moderating effects of child and keyworker attachment styles on the link between child behavioural problems and staff burnout and the moderating effects of child attachment style on the link between keyworker attachment style and keyworker burnout. Participants included 261 children and 59 residential child care workers, from 5 orphanages in Saudi Arabia. Five self-report measures were utilised: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Security Scale, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire. Keyworkers caring for relatively non-avoidant children and those with an avoidant attachment style themselves experienced relatively high burnout a year later. Relatively high burnout was also reported by avoidant keyworkers who cared for avoidant and generally insecure children, while anxiously attached keyworkers reported relatively high burnout when they cared for children with any type of insecure attachment style. The present findings highlight essential interpersonal processes involved in the development of burnout in residential child care workers and call for the employment of attachment-focused interventions as measures of burnout prevention.

Workplace-based opportunities to support child care workers' health and safety.

Child care workers earn among the lowest wages in the United States and they struggle with many health issues. The purpose of this study was to describe workplace supports for nutrition, physical activity, other health behaviors (e.g., smoking cessation, stress management), and occupational health and safety available to child care workers, and thereby inform the development of future workplace-based interventions to improve worker well-being. Between 2015 and 2016, 74 North Carolina child care centers (and directors), participating in a larger randomized controlled trial, completed a Workplace Health and Safety Assessment (interview and observation) measuring four domains: Infrastructure, Organizational Policies and Procedures, Programs and Promotions, and Internal Physical Environment. This study used baseline data to report means and standard deviations. Participating child care centers employed, on average, 12.7±8.4 employees. Total scores from the Workplace Health and Safety Assessment averaged 41.3±12.6 out of a possible 154, demonstrating many missed opportunities for supporting health/safety. More specifically, centers scored on average 9.5±3.9 on Infrastructure (35% of potential points), 11.1±3.9 on Organizational Policies and Procedures (32% of potential), 7.6±5.4 on Programs and Promotions (12% of potential), and 13.1±2.2 on Internal Physical Environment (49% of potential). The most frequent supports available were for occupational health and safety issues, while fewer supports were available for physical activity and other health behaviors. Child care workers could benefit greatly from more comprehensive workplace health and safety interventions; however, strategies must overcome centers' limited capacity and resources.

Physical Work Demands of Childcare Workers in Denmark: Device-Based Measurements and Workplace Observations Among 199 Childcare Workers from 16 Day Nurseries.

ObjectivesChildcare workers in Denmark have high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain (MSP) and sickness absence, but the existing knowledge of their physical work demands is limited, hampering preventive initiatives. This study aimed to assess the physical work demands with accelerometers and workplace observations of childcare workers handling children age 0–3.MethodsData collection consisted of an electronic survey, anthropometric measurements, accelerometer measurements providing information of physical activity types and postures with Acti4 software from five consecutive workdays, as well as 4-h visual workplace observation per childcare worker from 16 Danish nurseries.ResultsIn total, 199 childcare workers were enrolled in the study. A total of 4181 working hours of accelerometer measurements and 722 h of workplace observations were carried out. Accelerometer measurements showed that they spent about half of the working day (44.8%) in sedentary postures, and the rest standing (22.8%), moving (13.0%), walking (14.6%), running (0.1%), and climbing stairs (0.7%), with 4.1% in knee straining postures (kneeling and squatting) and 4.3% forward trunk inclination >60°. Workplace observations showed that they carried children 1.8% of the working hours.ConclusionsPhysical work demands of Danish childcare workers are characterized by about half of the workday being sedentary, and the remaining of the workday being quite evenly distributed between standing and dynamic activities, with low exposures to carrying children. Their exposure to forward bending of the trunk and knee straining postures could impose a risk for MSP and sickness absence, and preventive initiatives should be considered.

Child psychiatry in China: Present situation and future prospects.

Child psychiatry in China: Present situation and future prospects.

Vaccine-Preventable Infections in Childcare Workers.

Adequate immunity to so-called childhood diseases can lower the occupational risk of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases in persons who work in day-care centers for children. A systematic literature survey was carried out in PubMed and Embase for the period January 2000 to February 2019. Studies on immune status and vaccination status were included. In addition, data from the first wave of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (Studie zur Gesundheit Erwachsener in Deutschland, DEGS1) and surveillance data on notifiable infections in Germany were evaluated. Six studies and the DEGS1 analysis of vaccination or immune status for varicella zoster, rubella, hepatitis A (HAV), pertussis, measles, and mumps in persons caring for children in day-care centers, most of whom are women, were included in this review. According to DEGS1, childcare workers are more commonly vaccinated against HAV and pertussis than the general female population (prevalence ratios [PR]: 1.46 [1.12; 1.90] and 1.57 [1.05; 2.36]), yet 57% had not been vaccinated against HAV and 77% had not been vaccinated against pertussis. Childcare workers were found to be less commonly vaccinated against rubella than the general female population, although the difference was not statistically significant (PR: 0.87 [0.71; 1.07]). In a Canadian study, positive HAV serology was found to be correlated with the duration of activity as a childcare worker. In the DEGS1 study, large proportions of the younger childcare workers in particular were seronegative against measles (16%), mumps (19%), and HAV (37%). Notifiable disease statistics show that those working in community facilities had a markedly higher risk of mumps, pertussis, and varicella (relative risk [RR]: 1.8-2.6) and a somewhat higher risk of rubella and HAV (RR: 1.47 and 1.21, respectively). Childcare workers have a higher occupational risk of infection but do not always receive the appropriate vaccinations. In particular, women of child-bearing age working in day-care centers should be made more aware of the need for vaccination.

Results of caring and reaching for health (CARE): a cluster-randomized controlled trial assessing a worksite wellness intervention for child care staff

BackgroundChild care workers are among the lowest paid US workers and experience a wide array of health concerns. The physical and mental demands of their job and the lack of employer-provided health-insurance increase health risks. The Caring and Reaching for Health (CARE) study evaluated a 6-month Healthy Lifestyles intervention targeting child care workers’ physical activity (primary outcome), other health behaviors, and their workplace health environment.MethodsEligible child care centers, defined as being in operation for at least 2 years and employing at least four staff, were enrolled into CARE’s cluster-randomized trial. Centers and their child care staff were randomly assigned to either the Healthy Lifestyles (HL) intervention arm or the Healthy Finances (HF) attention control arm using a block randomization approach. Intervention components were delivered through in-person workshops, center-level displays, informational magazines, director coaching, electronic messaging, and an interactive website. Outcome measures were collected during center visits at baseline and immediately post-intervention by trained data collectors blinded to center arm assignment. Workers’ physical activity was assessed with accelerometers, worn for 7 days. Secondary outcome measures included biometric assessments of health and fitness, web-based surveys about health behaviors, and an environmental audit of workplace supports for health. Multi-level linear mixed models assessed worker- and center-level changes in these outcomes.ResultsParticipants included 553 child care workers representing 56 centers (HL = 250 staff/28 centers, HF = 303 staff/28 centers). At 6 months, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity declined slightly in both arms (− 1.3 min/day, 95% CI: − 3.0, 0.3 in HL; − 1.9 min/day, 95% CI: − 3.3, − 0.5 in HF), but there was no significant group by time interaction. Several secondary outcomes for other health behaviors and workplace health environment showed improvements in favor of the intervention arm, yet differences did not remain statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons.ConclusionsWhile the Healthy Lifestyles intervention did not improve health behaviors or the workplace health environment, results confirmed the pressing need to focus on the health of child care workers. Future interventions should focus on prevalent health issues (e.g., weight, stress), include both high-tech and high-touch intervention strategies, and address work conditions or other social determinants of health (e.g. wages) as a means of improving the health of these essential workers.Trial registrationCare2BWell: Worksite Wellness for Child Care (NCT02381938).

Negotiating ‘ideal worker’ and intensive mothering ideologies: Australian mothers’ emotional geographies during their commutes

ABSTRACT Individualized, maternalist and marketized discourses of childcare are pervasive in Australia as they are in other liberal welfare states. Responsibility is overwhelmingly placed on mothers to carry out most childcare work themselves or to arrange informal or paid childcare. One of the key tasks for most employed mothers is transporting children alongside their commuting journeys. In this context we used mapping/graphic elicitation interviews with 45 Australian employed mothers to explore their commuting experiences through the lens of emotional geographies. Our findings reveal that mothers’ experiences of their commutes were shaped by negotiations with intensive mothering and ‘ideal worker’ ideologies during this journey resulting in emotions of guilt, shame and stress. The spatial and temporal organization of childcare, and incompatibilities between their commuting transport needs and the organization of public transport and parking, tended to amplify these tensions. Through an emotional geographies lens we complicate linear understandings of commuting and mainstream transport and planning work, while calling for more attention to the affective and relational dimensions of mothers’ everyday geographies of care and paid work.