Access to high-risk families through selected actors of the health care system. Results of an explorative questioning of early childhood intervention pilot projects

• Published in: Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz, 2010-10, Vol.53 (10), p.1048-1055
• Main Author: Renner, I
• Format: Article
• Language: ger
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Health Services - organization & administration; Child; Child Abuse - prevention & control; Child Abuse - statistics & numerical data; Child Health Services - organization & administration; Child Welfare; Data Collection; Delivery of Health Care - organization & administration; Female; Germany - epidemiology; Government Programs - utilization; Humans; Interinstitutional Relations; Male; Patient Care Team - organization & administration
• ISSN: 1437-1588
• DOI: 10.1007/s00103-010-1130-z

A requirement for preventive child protection is an early and systematic access to high-risk families. Actors of the health care system, in particular doctors in private practice and midwives, are highly accepted within the population and therefore offer perfect requirements to provide this access. For this reason the aim in the context of early childhood intervention is a close cooperation of the Child and Youth Services with doctors and midwives. To what extent can these service providers of the health care system fulfill these expectations? The National Centre on Early Prevention tried to find an answer to this question with the support of 10 pilot projects which were set up within the framework of the action program "Early Prevention and Intervention for Parents and Children and Social Warning Systems". The comprehensive project presentation of selected results, insights and experiences concerning cooperation between agents of the Child and Youth Services and doctors in private practice and midwives is based on explorative written questioning of the 10 projects. The study shows from the point of view of the pilot projects that the cooperation with freelance midwives is promising. In contrast, the cooperation with doctors in private practice does not yet meet the hopes and expectations. To achieve an improvement of this situation, conditions have to be supported which promote a stronger commitment of the medical profession to early childhood intervention.