Integrating a Parenting Assessment into Practice: Pediatric Providers’ Time and Perspectives

• Published in: Maternal and child health journal 2024-10, Vol.28 (10), p.1663-1670
• Main Authors: J Cooke, Amber, Attar, Tahra I, L Carr, Victoria, C Whitney, Anna, J Tinker, Rory, L Carlson, Kathryn, M Stoppelbein, Merrill, A Jana, Laura, J Scholer, Seth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adverse childhood experiences; Behavior; Behavior problems; Child; Child abuse & neglect; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Childrens health; Disease prevention; Evaluation; Female; From the Field; Gynecology; Health care; Health care industry; Health Personnel - psychology; Health services; Humans; Infant; Low income groups; Male; Maternal & child health; Maternal and Child Health; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Objectivity; Parenting - psychology; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Pediatrics; Pediatrics - methods; Population Economics; Poverty; Primary care; Primary Health Care; Public Health; Risk assessment; Risk taking; Sociology; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1092-7875; 1573-6628; 1573-6628
• DOI: 10.1007/s10995-024-03984-6

Purpose To integrate a parenting assessment into primary care and assess pediatric providers’ time needed to review it and their perceptions of the process. Description The Quick Parenting Assessment (QPA) is a validated, 13 item parent support tool that assesses for healthy and unhealthy parenting practices. Higher QPAs indicate more unhealthy parenting being used. In a clinic serving low-income parents, the QPA was integrated into the 15 month, 30 month, 5 year, and 8 year well child visits. After each well child visit in which the QPA was administered, providers were invited to complete a one-page survey—315 surveys were included in the analysis. Assessment Most QPAs (78.7%) were low risk (QPA  4). The median time was 15–30 s to review low risk QPAs and 30 s to 1 min to review high risk QPAs. For most QPA reviews, health care providers reported that the QPA increased their objectivity in determining the level of support needed (68%), facilitated communication about parenting (77%), and increased the value of the visit (68%). Conclusion A validated parenting assessment tool, integrated into pediatric primary care, appears to work for pediatric health care providers. These findings have implications for supporting parents in pediatrics, value-based care, and disease prevention. Significance What is Already Known on this Subject? Parenting assessments, integrated into primary care, could support parents and reduce poor outcomes, but they are not used routinely. The Quick Parenting Assessment (QPA) is a validated 13-item parenting assessment, associated with an increased risk of behavior problems. What this Study Adds? A validated parenting assessment tool was integrated into the well visit in a pediatric clinic. Providers reviewed the tool in less than a minute or two and responded positively to the integration process, suggesting a way to mitigate ACEs.