1 / 28

Understanding Mothers’ Efforts to Safeguard Children in the Home Environment

Understanding Mothers’ Efforts to Safeguard Children in the Home Environment. A Qualitative Approach L.L. Olsen, J.L. Bottorff, P. Raina, & C.J. Frankish. Acknowledgments. Canadian Institutes for Health Research IPals (Injury Prevention Across the Life Span) ICE Team Grant

jameswhitney
Télécharger la présentation

Understanding Mothers’ Efforts to Safeguard Children in the Home Environment

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Understanding Mothers’ Efforts to Safeguard Children in the Home Environment A Qualitative Approach L.L. Olsen, J.L. Bottorff, P. Raina, & C.J. Frankish

  2. Acknowledgments Canadian Institutes for Health Research IPals (Injury Prevention Across the Life Span) ICE Team Grant Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research & B.C. Medical Services Foundation B.C. Injury Research and Prevention Unit NEXUS, University of British Columbia Medical Health Officer’s Council of B.C.

  3. Injuries in Childhood • Leading causes of injury mortality among children in B.C. 0-4 years 1. Motor vehicle traffic 2. Drowning 3. Suffocation 4. Fire (flames/hot substances) Unintentional Injuries in B.C. Trends and Patterns among Children and Youth, 1987-2000, BCIRPU

  4. Injuries in Childhood • Leading causes of injury hospitalizations among children in B.C. 0-4 years 1. Falls 2. Poisoning 3. Foreign body 4. Fire (flames/hot substances) Unintentional Injuries in B.C. Trends and Patterns among Children and Youth, 1987-2000, BCIRPU

  5. Injuries in Childhood • 50 % - 70% of unintentional injuries to children < 5 years take place in the home environment • Poverty is associated with higher rates of childhood injury for both frequency and severity

  6. Methods Strengths of Qualitative Approach: • Emphasis on meanings people place on events in their lives • Data focus on naturally occurring events in natural settings • Influence of local contexts taken into account • Richness and holism of data • Strategy for developing hypotheses

  7. Institutional Ethnography • Participants: • Mother and primary caregiver of child 1-5 years • Living in study community but not on a working farm • Living in low-income household (LICO cutoff)

  8. Research Questions • What are the everyday experiences of mothers living in low-income households with safeguarding young children? • How are these experiences situated in and linked to broader physical and social contexts?

  9. Recruitment • Control arm of intervention study • Public health unit – advertisements posted • Drop-in centre for single moms at community church • Family resource centre -health and nutrition program for pregnant and new mothers

  10. Data Collection Methods • Multiple methods of data collection: • In-home audiotaped 60 minute interviews • In-home 2 hour observation sessions: • physical features of the home • self-reported home safety actions • mother-child safety related interactions

  11. Interviews • In-home audiotaped interview lasting approximately 60 minutes addressing: • Top priority safety concerns • Changes in concerns over time • Typical daily things the mother does to keep child safe • Care by others • Injury experiences and close calls

  12. Interviews Cont’d. • Use of safety information and community resources • Family health issues that may impact (mother, child, others) • How living on a low-income impacts safety efforts • Supports and challenges related to physical and social environment • Member checking in later interviews

  13. Analytic Approaches • Institutional ethnography • Discourse analysis of injury and close call events • Gender-based analysis - safeguarding and household division of labor

  14. Theoretical Framework • Institutional ethnography using theories of social relations and social organization (Smith 1987, 2004) • Theories of mothering • Frameworks for injury prevention, health promotion, child development • Concept of safeguarding- broad frame of reference to understand safety concerns and efforts

  15. Data Analysis • Safeguarding Work: Coding to develop a ‘generous account’ of this work (what it consists of, actions, steps, time, difficulties, knowledge and skills) • Contextual Conditions: Coding to identify elements that are implicated or linked with the safeguarding work

  16. Findings • Participants • 17 mothers participated in study • Mothers’ age range: 19- 37 years • Children’s age range: 16 months - 5 years • Number of children in house: range 1-7

  17. Mothers’ Pre-tax Family Income(N=17)

  18. Mother’s Safeguarding Work Background Influences Child Safety Outcomes • Parenting style/skills • Safety knowledge, beliefs & values • Past experiences with injury • Cognitive Work • Risk appraisal • Emotional work • Child-Directed Work • Teaching and communicating • Supervision and monitoring • Intervening with child • Balancing child needs • Social Environment • Partner communication • Negotiations with others for repairs, child safety issues • Physical Environment • Altering physical structures • Using devices • Making repairs • Arranging space & objects • Safe/unsafe behaviors • Injury events • Close call events

  19. Mothers’ most frequently mentioned top safety concerns in and around the home.

  20. Findings: Contextual Factorsin the Physical Environment • Design/quality of indoor space • Housing maintenance/repair • Stability of housing • frequent moves • lack of affordable options • Availability of playspace • Outdoor concerns

  21. Findings: Contextual Factors in the Social Environment • Family level • Mother-partner relationship • Family health issues • Sibling interactions • Neighborhood/community level • Relationships with neighbors • Care by others • Community norms (fears, values)

  22. Findings: Institutional Contexts Linked to Safeguarding Work • Housing • Child care system • Child welfare system • Expert safety knowledge • Gendered disadvantages • Employment opportunities • Lack of authority over space

  23. Conclusion • Concept of safeguarding useful for understanding the scope of mothers’ efforts to keep young children safe: • Positive frame • Recognizes hidden aspects of safety work • Recognizes emotional impacts (fear/stress) • Privileges women’s own perspectives

  24. Study Limitations • Social desirability • Sources of participant recruitment

  25. Implications: Practice Need for design and evaluation of interventions that: • Acknowledge mothers’ experiences • Address barriers in social and physical environments • Address institutional practices that undermine safeguarding work • Avoid blame and deficit focus

  26. Implications: Research • Does mothers’ early use of child directed strategies increase injury risks? • What are the links between psychological issues, effective parenting and child injury risks? • What risks might be associated with use of low-cost home modification strategies? • How do mothers’ perceptions of indoor safety risks compare with perceptions of outdoor risks?

  27. Implications: Research • Gender differences: How do values held about child safety and safeguarding strategies differ between mothers and fathers? How are they similar? • Evaluation of women-centered strategies that address disadvantages faced by low-income mothers of young children.

  28. Implications: Policy • Availability of affordable child care • Availability of safe, stable housing options • Residential and road design • Safety as a value at community level

More Related