The majority of children in the UK live in households with two parents, yet most of the academic research on parenting focuses on the relationship between one parent and one child. More often than not, this one parent has been the mother. There is an expectation of father involvement in contemporary parenting, but the literature still tends to emphasise parenting as a one parent-one child interaction, measuring involvement of the father in terms of time spent with his child. The idea of collaboration, or collaborative parenting, drawing on research into coparenting in the US, considers the involvement of both parents with each other, with respect to the child, as an alternative way of conceptualising parental involvement. Collaboration is considered a useful concept, as it goes beyond the idea of parenting as being about time spent directly with the child. Unlike many factors which may predict child outcomes, a lack of collaboration could be addressed at the family level, through counselling or education. The aims of the research were to develop an understanding of the way in which parents work together, looking in particular at how this is affected by social support; whether there are associations between parental collaboration and the availability of time for family and leisure activities, and feelings about the balance between work and home life; whether parents who collaborate are more likely to adhere to expert advice on parenting matters; and whether there are associations with a child’s social, emotional and behavioural development. Emphasis was also placed on the methodology, as it entailed the development of a method for measuring the concept of collaboration, using data that was not designed for the purpose. The research was conducted through a combination of methods, comprising secondary analysis of data from the first four sweeps of the Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) study, and the conduct and analysis of 20 pairs of semi-structured interviews with parents who had previously taken part in this study. A condition of the funding received from the Scottish Government was to make use of the GUS data. The research found social support affected the process of collaboration in a number of ways: by enabling collaboration to take place; by removing the need for collaboration; by increasing the time available to collaborative couples; and by removing the need to plan ahead. Of particular note were the problems that were more likely to occur when couples neither collaborated, nor had support from outside the home. These are the couples who find that work impacts on their family the most. They are also the ones who are least likely to have time away from their children to do something for their own interest, and are the ones who are most likely to find it difficult to access advice. Collaborative couples tended to find more time available for activities with their children, as well as time for themselves. Positive associations were demonstrated between collaboration and a child’s social, emotional and behavioural development, but the strength of the association was not equal in all situations. When the mother was employed full-time, relatively strong associations were evident. When she was not in employment, and a number of other risk factors were present, relatively strong associations could again be seen. However, when the mother worked part-time, there did not appear to be any association between child behavioural development and collaboration. Associations were also demonstrated with the work-life balance of parents. Collaborative fathers professed less of an impact of the family on their work than non-collaborative ones. Similarly, collaborative fathers were less likely to say that long hours impacted on the time they had with their children than non-collaborative fathers, but there was no equivalent association for mothers. The impact of work on family was more likely to be lower for both parents when they acted collaboratively.

Background: Good health at community and individual levels are key policy priorities. These priorities can be shown through supporting parents about various different healthy lifestyle choices. In order to know where interventions are needed, it is of interest to study how parents generally feel and how they perceive their parenting. Aim: To study how parents rate their own health and parenting skills, and examine whether there is any correlation between perceived general health and perceived parental competence.  Further, this study will show whether there is a correlation between rate of perceived general health and rate of perceived parental competence when it comes to gender. Method: 64 questionnaires were collected at strategic open kindergartens in the municipality of Uppsala. The questionnaires were distributed to the parents present and who chose to participate in this study. Main result: The result of this study shows that parents have a high rate of general health. A weak correlation between rate of perceived general health and rate of perceived parental competence were found. However a clear correlation between rate of perceived general health and rate of perceived parental competence could be seen of fathers, while the mothers are unrelated. Conclusion:  Parents in Uppsala seems to feel generally well and believe they are capable parents. It also appears that these two factors are interrelated so that parents who are doing well also generally feel better in their parenting. More and major studies are needed to obtain a general and trustworthy result.

SAMMANFATTNING Bakgrund: syftet med mödrahälsovård är att erbjuda föräldrar som väntar barn frekventa undersökningar under graviditeten samt en förberedelse inför deras kommande föräldraroll. Mödrahälsovården erbjuder föräldrautbildning till föräldrarna. Fördelar med föräldrautbildningar grundar sig i att familjer skapar ett socialt nätverk, samhörighet och igenkännande med andra i samma situation. Syftet: att undersöka om blivande föräldrar skapade nätverk utifrån att de lärt känna varandra vid en föräldrautbildning under graviditeten. Metod: en deskriptiv enkätstudie utifrån kvantitativ och kvalitativ ansats. Enkäten bestod av 24 frågor, varav fyra bakgrundsfrågor, 19 frågor om föräldrautbildning och sista delen i enkäten var ett öppet fält där föräldrar kunde kommentera med egna ord. Chitvåtest användes i analys av kvantitativa variabler. Den öppna frågan analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: majoriteten av föräldrarna ansåg att föräldragruppsträffarna var en inspirationskälla till att skapa nätverk med andra föräldrar. En del av föräldrarna ansåg att det geografiska avståndet inte hade en negativ inverkan på ett nätverk, medan andra ansåg att det hade en negativ inverkan. Vänner och BVC betydde mycket för föräldrar i deras nätverk. Drygt hälften av föräldrarna ansåg att det var viktigt/mycket viktigt att ha ett nätverk i sitt föräldraskap. De viktigaste anledningarna för föräldrarna var att delge varandra erfarenheter, utbyte av kunskap och socialt umgänge. Majoriteteten av föräldrarna ansåg att de kommer att ha ett fungerade nätverk med dessa föräldrar i framtiden. Slutsats: Föräldrautbildningarna ansågs vara meningsfulla och gav möjlighet för föräldrarna att skapa ett nätverk med andra föräldrar. Föräldrarna utbytte kunskap, erfarenhet, stöd och hade möjlighet till socialt umgänge. / ABSTRACT Background: the purpose of antenatal care is to offer parents who are expecting a child frequent examinations during pregnancy and preparation for their future role as parents. Maternal health services offer parent education to the parents. Advantages of parent training based on that families create a social network, belonging and identification with others in the same situation. Aim: was to investigate if prospective parents had created network on the basis that they got to know each other in a prenatal education during pregnancy. Method: a descriptive questionnaire study based on quantitative and qualitative approach. The questionnaire consisted of 24 questions, four background questions, 19 questions about parent education and final part of the questionnaire was an open field where parents have been able to comment with their own words. Chi two test was used in the analyze of quantitative variables. The open – ended question was analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Results: the majority of parents felt that parents' meetings were an inspiration to create a network with other parents. Some of the parents felt that the geographic distance did not have a negative impact on a network, while others felt that it had had a negative impact. Friends and BVC meant a lot for parents in their network. More than half of the parents felt that it was important/ very important to have a network in their parenting. The major reasons for the parents was to share experiences, exchange of knowledge and social interaction. The majority of parents felt that they will have a working network with these parents in the future. Conclusion: Prenatal education was considered to bemeaningful andgave the opportunityfor the parents tocreate a networkwith other parents. Parentsexchangedknowledge, experience, support andhad the opportunityto interact socially.

Mothers have been involved with early childhood centres since their inception. Apart from obvious benefits for their children this liaison has also been important for mothers through gains in parenting knowledge, increased confidence and personal wellbeing. The present study argues that this is pertinent to appropriate and focused support being crucial for mothers at the life stage of adjustment to early parenting when disruption of networks has occurred. As well, it reflects the responsibility of institutions such as early childhood centres to fulfil these needs in a society where traditional support has fragmented. The study was designed to explore ways in which support mechanisms operated in four different early childhood services, through the medium of interviews. The unique findings in the study culminated in six propositions that showed support to be a product of mothers’ own activity in building relationships and contributing to their centre community. At the same time irrespective of service type all centres operated upon the basis of both formal and informal systems of support. Consequently, whilst mothers’ activities were most favoured by socially co-operative environments, they were opportunists in both systems. However, of major concern was that the informal systems were the most effective, as the statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices (Ministry of Education, 1996) exhorts staff to consider parent interactions as partnerships and The Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Education (Ministry of Education, 2002) has a vision of socially co-operative practices. Teachers rather than being unwilling to establish more collaborative styles of leadership were hampered by a lack of confidence in working with parents. Difficulties were the consequence of professional attitudes to trained knowledge, unmodified by the benefits of training to facilitate adults. Addressing these issues will not only help teachers to develop more collaborative systems that will facilitate support for mothers, but it will also ensure partnerships that make better use of their services to the mutual benefit of early childhood centre communities.

<p>Syftet med studien var att beskriva hur mammor och pappor upplever BVC kontakten. Totalt deltog tio mammor och tio pappor och data samlades in via intervjuer. Resultatet visade att både mammor och pappor överlag var nöjda med BVC personalens bemötande. De flesta respondenterna ansåg att BVCs verksamhet riktades mer till mammorna. Papporna beskrev att de ville få större möjlighet till delaktighet i BVC. Flera föräldrar var missnöjda med BVC verksamhetens organisation och struktur, och då främst tillgängligheten. Både mammor och pappor hade åsikter om BVCs upplägg, främst när det gällde öppettiderna och telefontiderna. De uttryckte stark önskan om att öppettiderna vid BVC borde förändras. När det gällde innehåll i BVC-verksamheten hade föräldrarna olika uppfattningar om informationen från BVC personalen gällande råd och stöd. Mammorna upplevde att de fått för lite information samt att den information som gavs inte var relevant för tillfället. Papporna upplevde att de fick för mycket information vid ett och samma tillfälle. Detta kunde medföra att informationen blev svår att tillgodogöra sig. Mammorna och papporna beskrev att de var nöjda med de täta hälsokontrollerna och med föräldragrupperna och den sociala gemenskap som de gav. Papporna ansåg det som mycket viktigt att vara delaktiga men BVCs öppettider upplevdes som ett hinder för detta. De uttryckte även en stark önskan om riktat stöd i deras nya roll som pappor och särskilda pappagrupper med en manlig samtalsledare efterfrågades. Mycket av BVCs verksamhet vänder sig till mammorna och för att undvika att papporna upplever ett utanförskap borde papporna stödjas genom speciellt riktad verksamhet.</p> / <p>The aim of the study was to describe how mothers and fathers experience their contact with the child health center. Ten mothers and ten fathers participated and the data were gathered via interviews. The results showed that both mothers and fathers were satisfied with the response at the child health center. Most of the respondents considered that the child health center activity was aimed more to the mothers. The fathers described that they wanted an extended possibility to participate in the activitys at the child health center. Several parents were dissatisfied with the organisation and the structure of the child health center mainly concerning opening hours and telephone hours. They expressed a strong will that opening hours at the child health center should be changed. When it concerned information contents regarding support the parents had different views. The mothers experienced that they recived too little information and that the information given not was relevant for the occasion. The fathers described that they recived too much information at one and the same time and that the information became difficult to incorporate. Both mothers and fathers described that they were pleased with the frequent health controls. The participants in the study were also pleased with the parent groups and the social community they provided. The fathers in the study considered it as very important to participate but experienced opening hours as an obstacle for this. They also expressed a strong will about support in their new role as fathers and also requested special groups for fathers with a male leader. A lot of the child health centers activity turns itself to the mothers and in order to avoid fathers feel out of it the fathers should be supported through father- focused programs.</p>

Syftet med studien var att beskriva hur mammor och pappor upplever BVC kontakten. Totalt deltog tio mammor och tio pappor och data samlades in via intervjuer. Resultatet visade att både mammor och pappor överlag var nöjda med BVC personalens bemötande. De flesta respondenterna ansåg att BVCs verksamhet riktades mer till mammorna. Papporna beskrev att de ville få större möjlighet till delaktighet i BVC. Flera föräldrar var missnöjda med BVC verksamhetens organisation och struktur, och då främst tillgängligheten. Både mammor och pappor hade åsikter om BVCs upplägg, främst när det gällde öppettiderna och telefontiderna. De uttryckte stark önskan om att öppettiderna vid BVC borde förändras. När det gällde innehåll i BVC-verksamheten hade föräldrarna olika uppfattningar om informationen från BVC personalen gällande råd och stöd. Mammorna upplevde att de fått för lite information samt att den information som gavs inte var relevant för tillfället. Papporna upplevde att de fick för mycket information vid ett och samma tillfälle. Detta kunde medföra att informationen blev svår att tillgodogöra sig. Mammorna och papporna beskrev att de var nöjda med de täta hälsokontrollerna och med föräldragrupperna och den sociala gemenskap som de gav. Papporna ansåg det som mycket viktigt att vara delaktiga men BVCs öppettider upplevdes som ett hinder för detta. De uttryckte även en stark önskan om riktat stöd i deras nya roll som pappor och särskilda pappagrupper med en manlig samtalsledare efterfrågades. Mycket av BVCs verksamhet vänder sig till mammorna och för att undvika att papporna upplever ett utanförskap borde papporna stödjas genom speciellt riktad verksamhet. / The aim of the study was to describe how mothers and fathers experience their contact with the child health center. Ten mothers and ten fathers participated and the data were gathered via interviews. The results showed that both mothers and fathers were satisfied with the response at the child health center. Most of the respondents considered that the child health center activity was aimed more to the mothers. The fathers described that they wanted an extended possibility to participate in the activitys at the child health center. Several parents were dissatisfied with the organisation and the structure of the child health center mainly concerning opening hours and telephone hours. They expressed a strong will that opening hours at the child health center should be changed. When it concerned information contents regarding support the parents had different views. The mothers experienced that they recived too little information and that the information given not was relevant for the occasion. The fathers described that they recived too much information at one and the same time and that the information became difficult to incorporate. Both mothers and fathers described that they were pleased with the frequent health controls. The participants in the study were also pleased with the parent groups and the social community they provided. The fathers in the study considered it as very important to participate but experienced opening hours as an obstacle for this. They also expressed a strong will about support in their new role as fathers and also requested special groups for fathers with a male leader. A lot of the child health centers activity turns itself to the mothers and in order to avoid fathers feel out of it the fathers should be supported through father- focused programs.

I föreliggande studie undersöktes om Fortsatt föräldraskap efter separation - Föräldrakurs med fokus på barnet är till nytta för deltagarna i deras föräldraskap och i så fall på vilket sätt. I studien användes en kombination av kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder i form av för- och eftermätning, avslutande enkät samt sex djupintervjuer. Undersökningsgruppen bestod av 14 deltagare, 12 kvinnor och 2 män, från två genomförda grupper. Det huvudsakliga resultatet visade att kursen varit till nytta för deltagarna och att de varit nöjda med kursens form och upplägg. Positiva effekter gick att utläsa gällande relationen mellan deltagarna och deras barn samt att de fått ökad kunskap och verktyg för hur de på bra sätt kan samarbeta med barnets andra förälder. Trots att det i föreliggande studie fanns mer att önska när det gäller effektmätning på såväl kort som lång sikt menar författarna att resultatet tyder på att positiva förändringar skett utifrån deltagande i föräldrakursen. / The present study investigated whether or not the program Continued Parenting After Separation – A parental program with a focus on the child is beneficial for the participants in their parenting and if so, in what way. The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in the form of pre- and post-measurement, concluding questionnaire and six in-depth interviews. The reference group consisted of 14 participants, 12 women and 2 men, from two completed programs. The main result showed that the program has been of benefit to the participants and that they have been satisfied with the form and structure of the program. Positive effects could be seen when it came to the relationship with their children. They also reported that they gained increased knowledge and tools for how to cooperate well with the child's other parent. Although greater measurements of the short and long term outcome was desired, the authors conclude that result suggest that positive effect has been achieved through taking part in the program.

Studien handlar om hur professionella inom verksamheter som arbetar med föräldraskapsstöd upplever stödet och dess effekt, samt hur de anser att stödet kan utvecklas och göras mer lättillgänglig. Studien baseras på fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer som arbetar eller har erfarenhet av arbete med föräldraskapsstöd. Det insamlade materialet analyserades med hjälp av en riktad innehållsanalys utifrån tre teman; Stödets betydelse ur ett professionsperspektiv, Viktiga faktorer för ett gott resultat och Eventuella hinder, utmaningar och arbete för ett mer lättillgängligt stöd. Studiens slutsatser tyder på att föräldraskapsstöd utöver att stärka föräldrar i sin föräldraförmåga, kan även bidra till att föräldrar får ett ökat självförtroende och en känsla av egenmakt. Föräldraskapsstöd bör ses som ett förebyggande arbete som minskar risken för negativa utfall och ett normbrytande beteende hos barn och unga. Utbudet på föräldraskapsstödsinsatser behöver anpassas för att möta de behov som finns och även göras mer jämlikt över hela landet. Arbetet kräver ett professionellt förhållningssätt, flexibilitet och bör grunda sig i empowerment. Föräldraskapsstöd behöver även marknadsföras ytterligare samt normaliseras för att göra det mer lättillgängligt för allmänheten.

Background: Parenting is life-changing, a stable and secure social network, and a well-functioning relationship contributes to a positive perceived parenting. It’s essential to be able to adapt parenting support and to discover parents with increased need for support early, in which home-visits can be an important part. This study describes parents' experiences of a care intervention that involves professional support in form of extended home-visits during pregnancy and the child's first fifteen months of life. Aim: To describe parents' experiences of receiving support through extended home-visits during pregnancy and the child's first fifteen months of life. Method: Qualitative study with inductive approach. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted. Phenomenographic method was used for data analysis. Results: Parents' experiences of receiving support through extended home-visits resulted in three categories: The place and form of the meeting are important for parents' sense of coherence; Home-visits promote parents' sense of security and strengthen the parental role; Home-visits promote parental involvement, integration and relationships. Parents described that everything fell into place and became more real when they received support at home. Conclusion: Home-visits and support in the home environment increased parents' sense of coherence, participation, sense of security and strengthened their role as parents.

Bakgrund: I Sverige ska kommuner och regioner arbeta med att främja hälsa hos familjer och barn. Ett sätt att arbeta med detta kan vara genom att samordna resurser vid hembesök. Samordnade hembesök kan möjliggöra tidig identifiering av familjer i behov av utökat stöd och tidigare studier har visat på goda effekter av samordnade hembesök för både enskilda familjer och för samhället. Därför genomförs nu ett förbättringsarbete med samordnade hembesök i Västmanland där barnhälsovårds-sjuksköterskor (BHV-sjuksköterskor) och familjevägledare tillsammans gör hembesök till familjer med barn som är åtta månader. Av den tidigare forskningen att döma saknas en inblick i BHV-sjuksköterskors och familjevägledares föreställningar av vad samordnade hembesök kan bidra med för både professionerna och familjerna. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskor och familjevägledares föreställningar av att göra samordnade hembesök till familjer med barn som är åtta månader. Metod: Examensarbetet är en intervjustudie med nio BHV- sjuksköterskor och fyra familjevägledare. Intervjuerna har analyserats med kvalitativ direkt innehållsanalys med deduktiv ansats. SWOT-modellen har varit vägledande för intervjuer och analys. Resultat: BHV-sjuksköterskornas och familjevägledarnas föreställningar av att göra samordnade hembesök handlar om att arbeta för att stödja familjer genom att samarbeta i team. Det framgår att arbetssättet kan medföra försvårande omständigheter i relation till professionen och föräldrarna. Att ha organisatoriska förutsättningar tros kunna möjliggöra arbetssättet trots att verksamheten inte anpassas efter nya omständigheter. Slutsats: Examensarbetets resultat visar att BHV-sjuksköterskor och familjevägledare föreställer sig att samordnade hembesök förväntas bidra till ett förbättrat interprofessionellt samarbete, vilket i sin tur skulle kunna göra att professionerna i större utsträckning kan ge föräldrastöd ur ett familjefokuserat omvårdnadsperspektiv. Att ta reda på BHV- sjuksköterskors och familjevägledares olika föreställningar bidrar till att synliggöra faktorer som kan påverka arbetssättets implementering. / Background: In Sweden municipalities and regions should promote the health of families and children. One way of working with this can be by coordinating resources in home visits. Coordinated home visits can enable early identification of families in need of increased support and previous studies have shown good effects from coordinated home visits for both individual families and for the community. Therefore, an improvement project with coordinated home visits is currently being carried out in Västmanland, where child health (CHC) nurses and family counselors together make coordinated home visits to families with children who are eight months old. Previous research lack insight into BHV nurses and family counselors’ conceptions of why coordinated home visits can contribute to both the professionals and the families. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe child health care (CHC) nurses and family counselors’ conceptions of making coordinated home visits to families with children in the age of eight months. Method: This essay is an interview study with CHC-nurses and family counselors (n=13). The interviews are analyzed by qualitative directed and deductive content analysis. The SWOT-model was guiding in both interviews and analysis. Result: CHC-nurses and family counselors’ conceptions of making coordinated home visits contain working to support families by teamwork. Such clinical practice may contribute to aggravating circumstances in relation to the profession and the parents. Also, having organizational conditions are believed to enable the work despite the fact that clinical practice is not adjusted to new circumstances. Conclusion: The results of this essay show that CHC-nurses and family counselors belive that coordinated home visits are expected to contribute to improved interprofessional collaboration, which in turn could enable the professionals to provide parental support to a greater extent from a family-focused nursing perspective. Finding out about the different conceptions of child health nurses and family counselors contributes to highlighting factors that can influence the way new clinical practices are implemented.