Public health nurses have a long history of effective home visiting. Research has shown them to be competent in preventing child abuse/neglect, improving family functioning, and improving the health of at-risk children. In contrast, due to lack of expertise, children’s health has not been addressed as a priority area by the child welfare/family court system. Abused and neglected children are at-risk for serious health problems that are frequently undetected and undertreated. This reports on a project designed to provide a link between the family court and health care system by utilizing public health nurses for follow up home visitation. It was implemented in order to address the health care needs of children whose families were brought before the family court due to child neglect. The sample (n=53) was followed longitudinally by nurses who assessed and addressed the health care needs of these children. Half the children were found to be underimmunized and lacked regular well child care. Among other identified problems, a significant percentage was found to have developmental problems. Outcome data will be reported. In addition, key strategies for the effective design and implementation of a similar program in other communities will be outlined. Successful collaborative approaches will be presented. The results have implications for expanding public health nurses’ role in eliminating health disparities.
Learning Objectives: At the end of the session, the participant will be able to: (1) identify the role of the public health nurse in the child welfare / family court system; (2) identify those families involved in the child welfare system who are at-risk for health problems and recognize the specific health care needs of this population; (3)develop effective strategies for implementing a similar program in another community
Keywords: Access to Health Care, Children
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.