Other
Health for all Children
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Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This book is an evidence-based review of the child health programme in the UK, covering children from pregnancy to age 7. It draws on research from around the world but links the evidence to UK policy and practice, and considers the different models used in the four UK administrations. It summarises what works in health promotion and health surveillance with children and families. It also makes recommendations on how to organise and quality assure the programme, and points to areas where more research is needed.
Key points
- Covers the child health programme for children from pregnancy to age 7 in the UK.
- Reviews how environmental exposures and maternal stress in pregnancy affect the developing fetus.
- Appraises evidence for health promotion and primary prevention and recommends services based on proportionate universalism.
- Reviews evidence on screening, case identification and opportunistic surveillance, and on enhanced and targeted support for families with extra needs or specific risk factors.
- Makes recommendations for organisation and quality assurance of the programme but does not conclude on who should provide the service.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available, so the specific findings, effect sizes and strength of evidence for each recommendation are not visible. The review is framed around UK policy, so its applicability to other settings, including African contexts, is not assessed.
Abstract
This book provides an evidence-based review of the child health programme (CHP) in the UK, for children from pregnancy to the age of 7 years. The book takes account of different government policies and different models of delivery of the CHP in the four UK administrations. It utilizes research from all over the world, but references the evidence to UK policy and practice. The aim is to summarize evidence about ‘why’ and ‘what works’ in health promotion and health surveillance with children and families, and where possible give guidance on ‘how’ to implement and quality assure a programme—but it does not conclude on ‘who’ should provide the service. The review starts in pregnancy, and considers evidence of how environmental exposures and maternal stress during pregnancy affect the developing fetus, and summarizes evidence of effectiveness for interventions during pregnancy and the perinatal period. The growing body of evidence for effectiveness in health promotion and primary prevention is appraised, and recommendations made to support services based on the principle of proportionate universalism. Evidence supporting secondary prevention, screening, and case identification through opportunistic surveillance is reviewed, together with the arguments for delivery of enhanced support to families with extra assessed needs and targeted services for families with specific risk factors. To conclude, evidence-based recommendations are made for the organization and quality assurance of the CHP, and areas highlighted where more research evidence is needed to support practice. Learning links to online training and resources are provided for each chapter.