A community health needs evaluation : improving uptake of services at a children's centre in a deprived and geographically isolated town

Long, T; Fallon, D; Devitt, P; Oak, E; Murphy, M; Dugdill, L

Abstract

The evaluation identified health and social trends for this deprived and geographically isolated area, elicited perceived health needs of under-fives in the local community, and informed development and improvement of services offered by a children’s centre. Sure Start children’s centres are crucial to delivery of outcomes of
the Every Child Matters policy initiative as well as offering support for parenting. The children’s centre in the study sought to develop its services and to increase the numbers of registered users particularly among ‘hard to reach’ groups in the locality.
Leafleting, street-canvassing, primary school newsletters and posters were used to advise the community of the consultation. Data were collected by telephone interviews, group and face-to-face interviews with parents and professionals, structured interviews in the town centre
streets and analysis of policy and health statistics documents.
The area was characterized by inadequate transport links and limited sources of good value local food supplies. The key areas of Every Child Matters were not meaningful concepts to most parents in connecting to their children’s health. Residents and professionals recognized low levels of parental expectations for their children. Specific barriers to service uptake were identified, but the children’s centre made a positive contribution to the health and well-being of the population, providing an
effective service in terms of variety, resources and professional help.
Additional services, better access to some services, revised opening times, additional transport, and integration of provision for siblings resulted from the study.

Citation

Long, T., Fallon, D., Devitt, P., Oak, E., Murphy, M., & Dugdill, L. (2008). A community health needs evaluation : improving uptake of services at a children's centre in a deprived and geographically isolated town. Journal of children's and young people's nursing, 2(3), 108-114. https://doi.org/10.12968/jcyn.2008.2.3.28702

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2008
• Deposit Date: May 23, 2011
• Journal: Journal of Children's and Young People's Nursing
• Print ISSN: 1753-1594
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 108-114
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/jcyn.2008.2.3.28702
• Keywords: Health needs, evaluation, consultation, children’s centres, access, hard to reach groups
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/jcyn.2008.2.3.28702
• Related Public URLs: http://www.internurse.com/cgi-bin/go.pl/library/contents.html?uid=2063;journal_uid=33