Experiences of Norwegian child and school health nurses with the "Starting Right" child health assessment innovation: a qualitative interview study

Abstract

Background: Although child health services are well established in Norway, the use of information technology for the systematic collection of evidence-based child- and proxy-reported health measures may be benefcial in the early identifcation of child development problems. The Norwegian “Starting Right™” health service innovation consists of parent- and child-reported online structured health assessments tools, including practical routines for child and school health assessments. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of child and school health nurses with the Starting Right innovation. Methods: We used a qualitative design and conducted three focus group interviews with 18 child and school health nurses from three child health centres one year after the implementation of the innovation. Results: The experiences of professionals with the Starting Right innovation were captured by three themes: (1) the digital innovation could be used to obtain a good overview of a child’s health and development; (2) interpreting the questionnaires was a challenge; and (3) implementing the new digital innovation was time-consuming. Conclusions: Overall, the child and school health nurses experienced that the Starting Right innovation was useful for providing a comprehensive overview of child development and health. The challenges related to interpreting the parents’ scores and follow-up of children, as well as providing the questionnaires in relevant foreign languages, should be addressed to allow all children and families to be reached.