Services For Children Research Articles

A Comparison of State-Specific Pediatric Emergency Medical Facility Recognition Programs, 2020.

Prior research suggests that the presence of state-specific pediatric emergency medical facility recognition programs (PFRPs) is associated with high emergency department (ED) pediatric readiness. The PFRPs aim to improve the quality of pediatric emergency care, but individual state programs differ. We aimed to describe the variation in PFRP characteristics and verification requirements and to describe the availability of pediatric emergency care coordinators (PECCs) in states with PFRPs. In mid-2020, we collected information about each PFRP from 3 sources: the state Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) website, the EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center website, or via communication with the state's EMSC program manager. For each state with a PFRP, we documented program characteristics, including program start date, number of tiers, whether participation was required/optional, and requirements for verification. Overall, we identified 17 states with active PFRPs. Five states had only 1 tier or level of recognition whereas the others had multiple. All programs did require presence of a PECC for verification. However, some PRFPs with multiple verification tiers did not require presence of a PECC to achieve each level of verification. In states with PFRPs, EDs with higher total visit volumes, a separate pediatric ED area, located in the Northeast, and earlier program start date were all more likely to have a PECC. There is variation in state PFRPs, although all prioritize the presence of a PECC. We encourage further research on the effect of different aspects of PFRPs on patient outcomes.

Being a parent of a soldier is a challenging experience - stress, anxiety, and depression among parents of Israeli soldiers.

At any given moment, a notable proportion of parents worldwide have at least one child serving in the military. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress in the sample of parents of Israeli soldiers and to assess the difference in this prevalence by type of service (combat vs. non-combat) and other demographic characteristics of parents and soldiers. A cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 202 Israeli parents who were interviewed during January-September 2023. Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to measure the emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress (with cut-off points of ≥5, ≥4, and ≥8, respectively). Having depression, anxiety, or stress was defined as psychological distress. Parents' demographics and child's service characteristics were included in the multivariable logistic regression model, with psychological distress as a dependent variable. Almost a quarter (22.8%) of parents experienced distress, defined as having high depression, anxiety, or stress score. In a multivariable model, combat service (vs. non-combat) was significantly associated with distress: parents of combat soldiers were four times more likely to report distress than parents of non-combat soldiers (OR=3.9; 95% CI: 1.3-11.8). Highly classified servicepreventing the child from sharing information with the parents was significantlyassociated with distress (OR=2.6; 95% CI: 1.2-5.3). Most distressed parents (78.3%) did not seek professional help, with the vast majority of those seeking assistance were female. Given the substantial proportion of parents suffering from mental distress found in this study, especially parents of combat soldiers and those serving in highly classified positions, healthcare professionals should be aware of parents' difficulties, be proactive in gathering informationabout their mental well-being, and be prepared to provide professional help.

Access to Educational Services for Children from Migrant Worker Households in Vietnam's Industrial Zones

Over the past 30 years, Vietnam's export processing zones and industrial parks have grown in number, drawing foreign laborers to places like Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Long An. In such scenario, getting social services is extremely difficult for immigrant workers in industrial parks and processing zones for a variety of reasons. The availability of schooling for children from working-class and immigrant families is a common example. In addition to having a direct impact on the stability of immigrant workers' lives and the growth of enterprises in industrial parks and export processing zones, failing to address the learning needs of this particular set of children also lowers their quality of life. Impacting the Vietnamese government's ability to carry out its obligations under the 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Based on the synthesis and analysis of secondary data sources gathered in Bac Ninh and Hanoi, the article's main goal is to give a general picture of how immigrant working families currently ensure their children's right to an education. From there, some suggestions are made to address this issue in the future from the standpoint of social work.

Research Implementation of Special Detection Elementary School Service For Children with Special Needs in Banjarmasin

In order to shape the abilities and character of children with special needs, it is essential to provide early detection services in public elementary schools. This study, conducted in Banjarmasin, Kalimantan, examined six inclusive elementary schools with 102 children with special needs and 82 special assistant teachers. Using a descriptive qualitative approach with additional quantitative data collection through observations, interviews, and documentation, the study found that some public schools have implemented detection services for children with special needs. Special assistant teachers and coordinators were provided to supervise and support the activities of these children at school. The study concluded that detecting and providing services for children with special needs at an early stage is crucial as elementary school is the foundation for personality development. This is in line with the universal values and religious perspectives that every child has the right to equal education

Analysis Of Factors Affecting Measles Rubella ( Mr ) Immunization Services For Children Aged 18-24 Months During The Pandemic At The Bumiaji Health Center In Batu City

As service providers, the role of officers must be supported by knowledge, infrastructure, response and empathy so that immunization services during a pandemic can continue to run optimally. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence the Measles Rubella (MR) immunization service for children aged 18-24 months during the pandemic at the Bumiaji Health Center, Batu City.The research design used was observational with a cross sectional approach with linear regression statistical tests to determine the factors that influence the Measles Rubella (MR) immunization service in children aged 18-24 months during the pandemic at the Bumiaji Health Center, Batu City. The population was 32 immunization officers at the Bumiaji Health Center with a sample of 30 respondents using simple random sampling.The research design used was observational with a cross sectional approach with linear regression statistical tests to determine the factors that influence the Measles Rubella (MR) immunization service in children aged 18-24 months during the pandemic at the Bumiaji Health Center, Batu City. The population was 32 immunization officers at the Bumiaji Health Center with a sample of 30 respondents using simple random sampling.The results of statistical tests showed that the significance results for the knowledge variable were 0.735 > 0.05, the infrastructure variable was 0.000 < 0.05 and the response and empathy variables were 0.456 > 0.05. For the variables of knowledge, response and empathy, Ho is accepted and H1 is rejected, meaning that there is no influence of knowledge or response and empathy to immunization services. While in the infrastructure variable Ho is accepted and H1 is rejected, it means that there is an effect of response and empathy of officers on immunization services.From the results of the study, it was concluded that only infrastructure had an effect on immunization services. In the simultaneous analysis of all variables when analyzed simultaneously on immunization services, there is indeed a significant effect. The Health Office is expected to continue to support increasing knowledge, equipping infrastructure, motivating response and empathy for officers so that Measles Rubella (MR) immunization services for children aged 18-24 months during a pandemic can run even better.

Increasing the use of anxiolysis and analgesia for paediatric procedures in a community emergency department network: a quality improvement initiative

Prior reports describe the care children receive in community EDs (CEDs) compared with paediatric EDs (PEDs) as uneven. The Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) initiative works to close these...

A Critical Review of In-Home Services for Children with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and their Families

A Critical Review of In-Home Services for Children with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and their Families

Linguistic Variables and Gender Differences Within a Messenger-Based Psychosocial Chat Counseling Service for Children and Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Study.

Text messaging is widely used by young people for communicating and seeking mental health support through chat-based helplines. However, written communication lacks nonverbal cues, and language usage is an important source of information about a person's mental health state and is known to be a marker for psychopathology. The aim of the study was to investigate language usage, and its gender differences and associations with the presence of psychiatric symptoms within a chat counseling service for adolescents and young adults. For this study, the anonymized chat content of a German messenger-based psychosocial chat counseling service for children and adolescents ("krisenchat") between May 2020 and July 2021 was analyzed. In total, 661,131 messages from 6962 users were evaluated using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, considering the following linguistic variables: first-person singular and plural pronouns, negations, positive and negative emotion words, insight words, and causation words. Descriptive analyses were performed, and gender differences of those variables were evaluated. Finally, a binary logistic regression analysis examined the predictive value of linguistic variables on the presence of psychiatric symptoms. Across all analyzed chats, first-person singular pronouns were used most frequently (965,542/8,328,309, 11.6%), followed by positive emotion words (408,087/8,328,309, 4.9%), insight words (341,460/8,328,309, 4.1%), negations (316,475/8,328,309, 3.8%), negative emotion words (266,505/8,328,309, 3.2%), causation words (241,520/8,328,309, 2.9%), and first-person plural pronouns (499,698/8,328,309, 0.6%). Female users and users identifying as diverse used significantly more first-person singular pronouns and insight words than male users (both P<.001). Negations were significantly more used by female users than male users or users identifying as diverse (P=.007). Similar findings were noted for negative emotion words (P=.01). The regression model of predicting psychiatric symptoms by linguistic variables was significant and indicated that increased use of first-person singular pronouns (odds ratio [OR] 1.05), negations (OR 1.11), and negative emotion words (OR 1.15) was positively associated with the presence of psychiatric symptoms, whereas increased use of first-person plural pronouns (OR 0.39) and causation words (OR 0.90) was negatively associated with the presence of psychiatric symptoms. Suicidality, self-harm, and depression showed the most significant correlations with linguistic variables. This study highlights the importance of examining linguistic features in chat counseling contexts. By integrating psycholinguistic findings into counseling practice, counselors may better understand users' psychological processes and provide more targeted support. For instance, certain linguistic features, such as high use of first-person singular pronouns, negations, or negative emotion words, may indicate the presence of psychiatric symptoms, particularly among female users and users identifying as diverse. Further research is needed to provide an in-depth look into language processes within chat counseling services.

Care Models and Discharge Services for Children With Medical Complexity.

Children with medical complexity (CMC) are high health care utilizers prompting hospitals to implement care models focused on this population, yet practices have not been evaluated on a national level. Our objective with this study is to describe the presence and structure of care models and the use of discharge services for CMC admitted to freestanding children's hospitals across the nation. We distributed an electronic survey to 48 hospitals within the Pediatric Health Information System exploring the availability of care models and discharge services for CMC. Care models were grouped by type and number present at each institution. Discharge services were grouped by low (never, rarely), medium (sometimes), and high (most of the time, always) frequency use. Of 48 eligible hospitals, 33 completed the survey (69%). There were no significant differences between responders and non-responders for both hospital and patient characteristics. Most participants identified an outpatient care model (67%), whereas 21% had no dedicated care model for CMC in the inpatient or outpatient setting. High-frequency discharge services included durable medical equipment delivery, medication delivery, and communication with outpatient provider before discharge. Low-frequency discharge services included the use of a structured handoff tool for outpatient communication, personalized access plans, inpatient team follow-up with family after discharge, and the use of discharge checklists. Children's hospitals vary largely in care model structure and discharge services. Future work is needed to evaluate the associations between care models and discharge services for CMC with various health care outcomes.

Factors Influencing Clinicians', Health Visitors' and Social Workers' Professional Judgements, Decision‐Making and Multidisciplinary Collaboration When Safeguarding Children with Burn Injuries: A Qualitative Study

AbstractBurns are a common injury to young children, sometimes related to neglect or physical abuse. Emergency department (ED) clinicians, health visitors and social workers must work collaboratively when safeguarding children with burns; however, little is known about the factors influencing their professional judgements, decision‐making and multidisciplinary collaboration. Objective was to explore factors affecting ED clinicians', health visitors' and social workers' professional judgements and decision‐making when children present to the ED with burns, and experiences of multidisciplinary collaboration, to identify areas for improvement. This was a qualitative semi‐structured interview study using purposive and snowball sampling to recruit participants. Data were analysed using ‘codebook’ thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: ‘perceived roles and responsibilities when safeguarding children with burn injuries’, ‘factors influencing judgment of risk and decision‐making’, ‘information sharing’ and ‘barriers and facilitators to successful multidisciplinary collaboration’. There is limited understanding between the groups about each other's roles. Each agency is dependent on one another to understand the full picture; however, information sharing is lacking in detail and context and hindered by organisational and resource constraints. Formal opportunities for multiagency team working such as strategy meetings can be facilitators of more successful collaborations. Professionals may benefit from multiagency training to improve understanding of one another's roles. Greater detail and context are needed when notifying health visitors of burn injuries in children or making a referral to children's services.

Assessing Health Equity in Partnership with Children's Mental Health Organizations: Considerations Before the Implementation of Parenting Programs.

Understanding and addressing how an individual's social, political, economic, and cultural context affects their ability to achieve optimal health is essential to designing and implementing interventions. Before evaluating two parenting programs, in partnership with four children's mental health organizations, we used the Health Equity Impact Assessment tool (HEIA) to identify groups that may experience unintended health impacts, as well as generated mitigation strategies to address these impacts. HEIA activities included a review of the published literature, a review of organizational documents, key informant interviews with staff (n = 12) and other related community service providers (n = 7), and a geographic information systems analysis. All sources of evidence were considered and analyzed using reflective thematic analysis. Summary reports were shared with all partners. A range of groups were identified as at risk of experiencing unintended health impacts, including caregivers who are racialized, immigrants, Indigenous, living with mental health issues or addictions, dealing with intellectual challenges and/or low literacy levels, survivors of childhood trauma, single parent families, or families experiencing financial difficulties. Unintended health impacts were sorted into 6 main themes which fell under the overarching themes of accessibility of the programs and cultural appropriateness. Mitigation strategies as well as innovative strategies already being applied by participating organizations are discussed. Although this HEIA focused on parenting programs, the findings address equity issues applicable to the provision of a wide spectrum of children's mental health services.

Parents’ Satisfaction About Quality of Physical Therapy Services for Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Parents’ Satisfaction About Quality of Physical Therapy Services for Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

An Exploratory Study of LDA Topic Modeling on Meal Services for Children with Food Crisis: Perceptions of Service Providers and Child Caregivers

An Exploratory Study of LDA Topic Modeling on Meal Services for Children with Food Crisis: Perceptions of Service Providers and Child Caregivers

The Evolution of Services for Children with Autism and Developmental Disabilities in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Provision of services for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental disabilities (DD) in Nigeria has been influenced by US and international research and awareness efforts. Forces that impact progress include Nigerian cultural beliefs and family involvement, societal attitudes, inadequate infrastructure and resources, and inconsistent policy and enforcement of disability laws. These forces can impact families both positively and negatively. A lack of standardised teacher training and accreditation programs limit access for students with disabilities to individualised education programs (IEPs) and classroom inclusion. Effective treatments for those with ASD/DD are well-documented, however these effective interventions often do not reach more rural, low-income, or less developed nations or rural, low socioeconomic US schools. The focus of this paper is to thoroughly analyse the evolution of special education and inclusion in Nigeria and the United States and to highlight how US progression influenced Nigeria and the importance of advocating for culturally relevant, low-cost, research-based interventions and outreach African nations such as Nigeria.

A critical friend or the sword of Damocles: Headteachers’ use of micropolitical strategies in inspection

In England, a new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) was launched in 2019. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OfSTED) describes it as evolutionary in bringing out education improvement. Others criticise its methodology and detrimental impact on schools. This study compares the foci, evidence-collecting methods and inspection decision-making processes between the 2015 Common Inspection Framework and the 2019 EIF. Eight headteachers were interviewed about their inspection experiences. Findings show that the headteachers purposefully employed micropolitical strategies such as acquiring the support of others, creating a favourable impression, shaping discussion and decisions, weakening opposition, and hyper-enacting policy to advance organisational interests. Six out of the eight schools in this study were rated ‘Good’ under EIF. However, the EIF left the power imbalance between OfSTED and schools and fear-induced performativity unchallenged. Headteachers and teachers were forced to engage in a new game at the cost of their physical and emotional well-being. This study aims to advance knowledge of the ongoing inspection reform in England. When other countries use OfSTED frameworks as a benchmark for designing their own inspection systems, it is crucial to carefully examine the potential detrimental impact associated with the inspector-school power imbalance and fear-induced performativity.

Predicting child development and school readiness, at age 5, for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in Australia's Northern Territory.

Positive early development is critical in shaping children's lifelong health and wellbeing. Identifying children at risk of poor development is important in targeting early interventions to children and families most in need of support. We aimed to develop a predictive model that could inform early support for vulnerable children. We analysed linked administrative records for a birth cohort of 2,380 Northern Territory children (including 1,222 Aboriginal children) who were in their first year of school in 2015 and had a completed record from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). The AEDC measures early child development (school readiness) across five domains of development. We fitted prediction models, for AEDC weighted summary scores, using a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) considering four groups of factors-pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, known at birth, and child-related factors. We first assessed the models' internal validity and then the out-of-sample predictive power (external validity) using the PLSpredict procedure. We identified separate predictive models, with a good fit, for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. For Aboriginal children, a significant pre-pregnancy predictor of better outcomes was higher socioeconomic status (direct, β = 0.22 and indirect, β = 0.16). Pregnancy factors (gestational diabetes and maternal smoking (indirect, β = -0.09) and child-related factors (English as a second language and not attending preschool (direct, β = -0.28) predicted poorer outcomes. Further, pregnancy and child-related factors partially mediated the effects of pre-pregnancy factors; and child-related factors fully mediated the effects of pregnancy factors on AEDC weighted scores. For non-Aboriginal children, pre-pregnancy factors (increasing maternal age, socioeconomic status, parity, and occupation of the primary carer) directly predicted better outcomes (β = 0.29). A technical observation was that variance in AEDC weighted scores was not equally captured across all five AEDC domains; for Aboriginal children results were based on only three domains (emotional maturity; social competence, and language and cognitive skills (school-based)) and for non-Aboriginal children, on a single domain (language and cognitive skills (school-based)). The models give insight into the interplay of multiple factors at different stages of a child's development and inform service and policy responses. Recruiting children and their families for early support programs should consider both the direct effects of the predictors and their interactions. The content and application of the AEDC measurement need to be strengthened to ensure all domains of a child's development are captured equally.

Exploring the implementation of key nursing roles in children's cardiac services.

Children's cardiac nursing roles have changed over the past decade. Royal College of Nursing (RCN) guidance and NHS England standards have been published with the aim of standardising and enhancing nursing care for children and young people with congenital heart disease (CHD) and their families. To explore the breath of implementation of key nursing roles in children's cardiac services across the UK and Ireland and to determine whether the roles met the RCN guidance and the NHS England standards. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The 150 members of the Congenital Cardiac Nurses Association (CCNA) were invited via email to participate and were sent a link to an online survey. Of the 150 potential respondents, 31 completed the survey. Overall, respondents believed that the RCN guidance had been implemented effectively and that children's cardiac nursing roles matched the RCN's example job descriptions. Respondents' comments suggested that implementation of the NHS England standards had been challenging and that progress in setting up key roles such as lead nurse, cardiac nurse educator and children's cardiac nurse specialist had been slow. Respondents felt that political and financial factors adversely affected recruitment. Since publication of the NHS England standards there has been some progress in the implementation, in children's cardiac services, of key nursing roles such as lead nurse and innovative nursing roles such as advanced nurse practitioner and research nurse. The findings of this study have informed the latest edition of the RCN guidance, which now includes the role of senior research nurse.

Virginia data reveals severe shortage of child, adolescent psychiatrists

There is a significant shortage of practicing child and adolescent psychiatrists, or CAPs, across the United States, according to data from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the online news agency, Virginia Mercury, reported Dec. 4. The AACAP data classified states into four groups: states with a sufficient supply of CAPs, those with a high shortage, those with a a severe shortage, and those states with no CAPs. Virginia is in a severe shortage, with just 264 CAPs in the state as of 2019, the most recent data available. That means on average there are 14 CAPs available per 100,000 children in Virginia, which is also the national average. The academy defines a “mostly sufficient supply” as more than 47 per 100,000 children. Nationwide, few counties meet that standard. The Virginia Mental Health Access Program, or VMAP, and oversees the work of all child psychiatrists involved in the program. VMAP is a statewide initiative that strives to give kids greater mental health access by teaching pediatricians to function like psychiatrists. Pediatricians are taught how to screen, diagnose, manage and treat mental health in children. More than $12 million was allocated for child psychiatry and children's crisis response services to be divided throughout the state based on current services already offered. The funds can be used to hire or contract child psychiatrists to provide clinical services, or to train. Mental health advocates have said the budget makes “significant investments” in mental health services across the state.

Health and social care professionals' views and experiences of supporting parents with serious mental illness.

A significant number of individuals with a serious mental illness (SMI) such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are also parents of dependent children. Despite the risk of adverse psychological, behavioral, and social outcomes their needs often go unmet. To better understand the needs of parents with SMI and their children it is necessary to gain insight into the perspectives and experiences of the professionals in adult mental health and children's services who work with them, and who, ultimately, are best placed to meet those needs. To explore the views and experiences of health and social care professionals working with parents with SMI to understand the needs of, and their role supporting, parents with SMI and their children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen professionals from six NHS and Local Authority settings in England, UK. Participants were included if they were employed in adult mental health or local authority children's services and had experience of working with parents with SMI. Sampling was purposive, including a wide range of professions in these settings. Interview data were analyzed using template analysis taking a critical realist perspective. Three top-level themes were generated: (1) Impact of parental SMI on the child, (2) Accessing support from services, (3) Role of professionals working with parents with SMI. Themes highlight diverse, wide-ranging effects of SMI on the child and a reluctance from parents to seek help due to stigma and fear. Available services are reported to be inaccessible and unacceptable to parents with SMI and practitioners experience conflict when balancing the needs of the parent and child. A whole-family approach facilitated by improved communication between services is advocated. Participants believed that parents with SMI experience complex parenting challenges over and above other parents, describing a largely detrimental impact on the child. Support services were deemed inadequate, and participants stressed the need to develop specialist services tailored toward the needs of parents with SMI and their children. Although participants endorsed joined up working across health and social care settings to facilitate a whole family approach, they required greater service knowledge and training in parental SMI.

Hubungan Pengetahuan Ibu dengan Pemberian Imunisasi Dasar dada Bayi di PMB Rini Kecamatan Sunggal Tahun 2023

One of the efforts in children's health services to prevent disease is the basic immunization program. Determining the type of immunization is based on expert studies and epidemiological analysis of diseases that arise. This research aims to determine the relationship between maternal knowledge and the provision of basic immunizations in PMB Rini, Sunggal District in 2023. This type of research is research using an analytical survey with a cross sectional method approach. . The population is all mothers who have 1 year old babies registered in PMB Rini, Sunggal District, totaling 42 people. The number of samples used was 42 people obtained using the total sampling technique. The data analysis technique uses chi square. The results obtained in this study were that from 42 respondents, there was a relationship between the maternal knowledge variable and the provision of basic immunization with a value of p = 0.023. It is recommended that the community health center increase the knowledge of mothers who have 1 year old babies to increase education regarding the provision of basic immunization.