Engagement and Retention of Families in Universal Australian Nurse-Home-Visiting Services: A Mixed-Methods Study

Belinda Mawhinney () and Jennifer A. Fraser
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Belinda Mawhinney: Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Susan Wakhil Health Building, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
Jennifer A. Fraser: Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Susan Wakhil Health Building, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 15, 1-17

Abstract: Family support is offered to Australian parents of young children using a mix of targeted and universal child and family health services including nurse-home-visiting programmes. These rely on the voluntary engagement of families. In this study, the capacity to engage and retain families, including those at risk of becoming involved with child protection services, was examined. The broad objective was to identify nursing practices used at the interface of health and child protection services and to articulate those practices. Child and Family Health Nurses (CFHN) ( n = 129) participated in a pragmatic, multilevel mixed-methods study. A questionnaire was used to identify nursing practices in the first phase of this study followed by focus groups in the second phase to describe these practices in more detail. Three practice themes were identified and described: enrolment, retention and conclusion of the nurse–family relationship. Universal child and family health services feature flexible, advanced, and multidimensional family support services including child protection practices. This paper focuses on practices employed by nurses to engage and retain families where child protection concerns are identified.

Keywords: nursing practice; engagement; retention; multilevel mixed methods; child and maternal health; child and family health services; nurse home visiting; universal health services; nurse–family relationship; families with complex needs; child protection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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