Reorientation of the Austrian parent-child preventive care programme. Part II: International policies, concepts and screening strategies focusing on “normal” and “high-risk” development processes during pregnancy and early childhood until school entry

摘要

Part II of the project pursued the goal to provide an overview of routine medical screenings as well as to examine current in-depth screening programmes targeting social and medical risk profiles of pregnant women and parents with children (to school age) in selected countries. Furthermore, the project identified associated health-care professionals that are involved in the screening processes and/or in the provision of the health-care services. Based on a comprehensive literature review and a questionnaire (including 9 European countries) the project shows that most parent-child preventive care programmes focus on physical examinations. There are partly considerable differences regarding the number and frequency of antenatal care screenings, however, some countries also provide numerous (non-medical) consultation services. Moreover, some countries have set sociomedical foci in their screening programmes (e.g. Great Britain or the Netherlands) in order to identify psychosocial risk profiles among pregnant women and families with children. Consequently, there are various additional health-care services for identified risk groups (e.g. in Germany) such as for pregnant women and children that experience domestic violence, mental illnesses, drug abuse etc. “Health Visitors” are integral service providers in almost all included countries (Great Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland). Midwives and/or Public Health Nurses have important screening, monitoring and assistance roles for pregnant women and families and they are most often involved in medical routine examinations. In addition, health visitors interface with other health-care professionals (e.g. with specialist doctors, psychologists, social workers etc.).