Improving integrated care for (future) parents facing vulnerable circumstances in the early life course of their (future) child: An action research protocol

• Published in: PloS one 2024-10, Vol.19 (10), p.e0305557
• Main Authors: Munshi, S C, Weggelaar-Jansen, A M, van den Berg-Bakker, A, Blanchette, L M G, Harmsen van der Vliet-Torij, H W, Hodes, M W, van 't Hof, M, Lambregtse-van den Berg, M P, van der Meer, L, Ernst-Smelt, H E, Bijma, H H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Action research; Child; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Collaboration; Consortia; Continuity of care; Cooperation; Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; Earth Sciences; Female; Health Services Research; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Integrated delivery systems; Intellectual disabilities; Knowledge; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental health; Midwifery; Netherlands; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Postpartum period; Pregnancy; Professionals; Qualitative analysis; Quantitative research; Research and Analysis Methods; Social Sciences; Study Protocol; Surveys and Questionnaires; Womens health
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305557

Suboptimal circumstances during the early life course, ranging from 100 days before conception to 1000 days following birth, significantly impact a child's future health and well-being. To optimize these circumstances, collaboration is needed which includes professionals working in medical, social and public domains, as well as parents. This action research protocol aims to improve care for (future) parents facing suboptimal circumstances during the early life course by enhancing inter-professional, cross-domain collaboration and (future) parents-professional collaboration. By employing iterative action research cycles, we seek to foster integrated care pathways and improve continuity of care across the medical, social and public domains. The research will be conducted in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Four action research cycles incorporating descriptive qualitative and quantitative studies, including focus groups, questionnaires and observations with (future) parents facing suboptimal circumstances, professionals and policymakers. This intervention study will not only foster improved, integrated care around identification of the need of additional support, referral and care, but also foster the necessary conditions for a self-supporting neighbourhood care learning network of (future) parents, professionals and policymakers to encourage bidirectional feedback and enable reflection beyond a single organisation. These interventions will also be evaluated. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, layman summaries, regional and national knowledge platforms and presentations and factsheets relevant to all involved actors.