Background: The lack of knowledge regarding preschool children's mental health prompted Uppsala University, in collaboration with Uppsala Kommun, to start a study in which children aged 3, 4, and 5 years are screened using the "Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire" (SDQ). This screening method has been introduced into the majority of Uppsala County child care centers (BVC), and the nurses' experience of working with this method is examined in this paper. Method: A qualitative approach with semi-structured questions was used to interview ten nurses who pioneered the SDQ Method. The interviews where recorded, transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. Results: Three themes and nine categories were identified from the interviews. The themes were: "Attitude and motivation are important when working with the form", "Clearer overall picture with preschool answer", and "A tool to identify difficulties". The results show that the nurses were satisfied with the form. They felt that their assessment of the child became more extensive, and that the parents were to a large extent able to describe their child. The method was experienced to facilitate communication between nurses and parents regarding sensitive issues. No extra time was needed for the visit itself, but more time was needed to send out the forms. Conclusion: The nurses welcomed a new assessment tool for children's visits to the BVC. A shorter version of the form was requested, primarily for parents who felt they didn’t have time to respond. Furthermore, they believed that using a structured questionnaire increased the value of the visit and reduced the risk of failing to identify children with adverse behavior, without using more time than before.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-227097 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Rosmar, Camilla, Karanikas, Susanna |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för folkhälso- och vårdvetenskap, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för folkhälso- och vårdvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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