Managing parental groups during early childhood

Abstract

Managing parental groups during early childhood: New challenges faced by Swedish child health-care nurses.Lefevre, Åsa; Lundqvist, Pia; Drevenhorn, Eva; Hallström, Inger General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal AbstractThe purpose of this study was to describe child health centre (CHC) nurses' views of managing parental groups during early childhood. All 311 CHC nurses working within the Swedish CHC system in one county were asked to complete a web-based questionnaire. Findings showed that although the CHC nurses were experienced several found group leadership challenging and difficult. The need for specialized groups for young parents, single parents and parents whose first language was not Swedish was identified by 57% of the nurses. The CHC nurses found the participation of fathers in their parental groups to be low (an estimate of 10 to 20%) and 30% of the nurses made special efforts to make the fathers participate. Education in group dynamics and group leadership can strengthen CHC nurses in managing parental groups. It is recommended that specialized parental groups are organized by a few family centres so CHC nurses can develop their skill in managing such groups.

First-time fathers experiences of their prenatal preparation in relation to challenges met in the early parenthood period: Implications for early parenthood preparation

“…Providing preparation for fathers-to-be demands not only subject knowledge but also pedagogical skills. Group-leadership requires knowledge about group dynamics in order to support a good learning environment (Lefèvre et al, 2015;. Knowledge and skills of this kind are at present not provided for midwives in Sweden, neither in midwifery education nor in-service training programs.…”

The role as moderator and mediator in parent education groups – a leadership and teaching approach model from a parent perspective

“…There is a lack of educational or leadership training for nurses (Ahld en et al 2008, Lef evre et al 2013. Some are probably well equipped to work with groups based on personal interest and ability, but in general, there is a lack of systematic tools for leaders of PE groups.…”

“…Parents want leaders who can create interactive and participative learning environments instead of a more directive or lecture type of approach (Petersson et al 2004, Schrader McMillan et al 2009, Andersson et al 2012. As a leader it can be difficult to abandon the role of expert and let the participants be part of and set their own learning agendas (Nolan 2009, Schrader McMillan et al 2009, Lef evre et al 2013. To be able to facilitate these processes requires leadership skills and knowledge of group dynamics as well as pedagogical skills (Andersson et al 2012).…”

“…To be able to facilitate these processes requires leadership skills and knowledge of group dynamics as well as pedagogical skills (Andersson et al 2012). However, there is a lack of specialised training in these areas, and also a lack of support for those providing the services (Ahld en et al 2008, Lef evre et al 2013. Wiener and Rogers (2008) specifically suggested group facilitation training to be an integral part of the basic training for midwives.…”

“…Sometimes, the same group stays together throughout pregnancy and early parenthood (up to about one year after childbirth), but in most cases, nurses in child health care create new groups of parents with newly born children and take over the role of providers of PE from the midwives in antenatal care (Fabian et al 2006). Most expectant and new parents who attend primary health care in Sweden are offered PE in groups with a focus on enhancing competence and coping as parents, and to help create networks between parents (Sundelin & H akansson 2000, Lef evre et al 2013, 2014. In this study, there is a focus on the leadership role in PE groups.…”