Parents' and staff's perceptions of parental needs during a child's admission to hospital: an English perspective

The aim of this research was to compare perceptions of parental needs held by parents of hospitalized children and the staff caring for them, so that potential communication breakdown could be avoided. A well-trialled tool was used with a convenience sample in paediatric facilities in a National Health Service trust in north-east England. Some differences were found between parents and staff for scores for perceived importance of the 51 needs that were included in the questionnaire, and whether or not they were being satisfactorily met during the child’s hospital admission, but there were no consistent patterns, so it is difficult to draw conclusions. Parents declared themselves more independent than the staff perceived them to be. Such findings facilitate improvements in communication between parents and staff and can be included in education programmes for both.

Improving family functioning and child outcome in methadone maintained families: the Parents Under Pressure programme

Twelve families responded to posters displayed in a methadone clinic for inclusion in a pilot study assessing the viability and potential utility of an intensive, multi-component family-focused intervention, the Parents Under Pressure programme. The programme was designed to improve child behaviour, decrease parental stress and improve family functioning in methadone-maintained families by targeting affect regulation, mood, views of self as a parent, drug use and parenting skills. Nine of the families completed the programme delivered in their homes; eight were recontacted at 3 months. Each family reported significant improvements in three domains: parental functioning, parent - child relationship and parental substance use and risk behaviour. In addition to the changes in family functioning, the majority of families reported a decrease in concurrent alcohol use, HIV risk-taking behaviour and maintenance dose of methadone. The families reported high levels of satisfaction with the programme. It is recommended that future studies include independent measures (e.g. behavioural observations) of child outcome and parental functioning. The results were optimistic and provided the impetus to evaluate the treatment programme using a randomized controlled trial.

Complexity, conflict and uncertainty: Issues in collaboration between child protection and mental health services

This paper provides an analysis of data from a state-wide survey of statutory child protection workers, adult mental health workers, and child mental health workers. Respondents provided details of their experience of collaboration on cases where a parent had mental health problems and there were serious child protection concerns. The survey was conducted as part of a large mixed-method research project on developing best practice at the intersection of child protection and mental health services. Descriptions of 300 cases were provided by 122 respondents. Analyses revealed that a great deal of collaboration occur-red across a wide range of government and community-based agencies; that collaborative processes were often positive and rewarding for workers; and that collaboration was most difficult when the nature of the parental mental illness or the need for child protection intervention was contested. The difficulties experienced included communication, role clarity, competing primary focus, contested parental mental health needs, contested child protection needs, and resources. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Finding meaning in parenting a child with Asperger syndrome: correlates of sense making and benefit finding

This study explored the nature of two construals of meaning, benefit finding and sense making, in parents of a child with Asperger syndrome, and examined relations between both meaning constructs and the Double ABCX family stress model variables (initial stressor and pile-up of demands, appraisal, social support, coping strategies and adjustment) [H.I. McCubbin, J.M. Patterson, Social Stress and the Family: Advances and Developments in Family Stress Theory and Research, Haworth, New York, 1983, pp. 7-37]. A total of 59 parents completed questionnaires. Content analyses of parents' responses to questions inquiring about gains and sense making explanations revealed 8 benefit and 12 sense making themes. Results of correlations indicated that one or more of the meaning variables were related to each of the Double ABCX model predictors of parental adjustment. The meaning variables were positively related to adaptive coping processes: social support, self-efficacy, and problem-focused and emotional approach coping strategies. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global standard for the composition of infant formula: Recommendations of an ESPGHAN coordinated international expert group

The Codex Alimentarius Commission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) develops food standards, guidelines and related texts for protecting consumer health and ensuring fair trade practices globally. The major part of the world's population lives in more than 160 countries that are members of the Codex Alimentarius. The Codex Standard on Infant Formula was adopted in 1981 based on scientific knowledge available in the 1970s and is currently being revised. As part of this process, the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses asked the ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition to initiate a consultation process with the international scientific community to provide a proposal on nutrient levels in infant formulae, based on scientific analysis and taking into account existing scientific reports on the subject. ESPGHAN accepted the request and, in collaboration with its sister societies in the Federation of International Societies on Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, invited highly qualified experts in the area of infant nutrition to form an International Expert Group (IEG) to review the issues raised. The group arrived at recommendations on the compositional requirements for a global infant formula standard which are reported here.

Stepping Stones Triple P: A pilot study to evaluate acceptability of the program by parents of a child diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

The experience of parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in standard parenting programs has not been researched, although anecdotal evidence suggests that they do not find them acceptable. Forty-two parents of children with ASD were asked to view a DVD explaining individual parenting strategies from Stepping Stones, a new branch of the Triple P program targeted specifically at parents of children with disabilities. Parents were asked to rate each strategy for acceptability, usability and behavioural intention, i.e., their intention to use the strategy. Additionally, parental attributions and parental perceived control were explored as possible barriers to positive evaluations of Stepping Stones parenting strategies. A focus group of parents was used to gather more detailed parent response to the program. Parent responses to the program were generally positive and attribution of the child's behaviour to uncontrollable factors was found to predict higher ratings of usability. The results were interpreted within the context of Weiner's attributional theory and the theory of reasoned action. The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Paediatric research in emergency departments international collaborative (PREDICT): First steps towards the development of an Australian and New Zealand research network

Paediatric emergency research is hampered by a number of barriers that can be overcome by a multicentre approach. In 2004, an Australia and New Zealand-based paediatric emergency research network was formed, the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT). The founding sites include all major tertiary children’s hospital EDs in Australia and New Zealand and a major mixed ED in Australia. PREDICT aims to provide leadership and infrastructure for multicentre research at the highest standard, facilitate collaboration between institutions, health-care providers and researchers and ultimately improve patient outcome. Initial network-wide projects have been determined. The present article describes the development of the network, its structure and future goals.

The spatial pattern of child growth in Papua New Guinea

Child growth in PNG shows strong regional differences, with highlands children being generally shorter but stockier than those from lowland areas. Differences in diet, socioeconomic status and local subsistence agriculture were found to be important predictors of child growth. All variables indicating higher socioeconomic status were correlated with better growth, as was a high consumption of imported and local high quality foods such as cereals, legumes, tinned fish or meat and fresh fish. Differences in subsistence explained between 25% and 50% of the geographical variation in growth. Child growth was better in systems based on cassava and sweet potato, and worse in those where banana, sago and taro are staples. The cultivation of all major cash crops and sales of fish and food crops improved child growth. Birth weights show similar patterns to those observed in child growth. The implications of these findings for possible interventions are discussed.