New course aims to make child health care more equal

Today, Swedish child health care different depending on where in Sweden you live. To contribute to a more equal, high-quality child health care, a completely new course was started this week, which aroused great interest. The course, which is not found anywhere else in Sweden, takes place at a distance for six months and the participants are GP’s and nurses from all over the country.

– A not entirely uncommon misconception is that child health care only involves measurement, weighing and vaccination, but this is not the case. It is a qualified public health work that aims to promote health, prevent ill health and early identify abnormalities in children’s health, development and living conditions, says Johanna Tell, initiator of the new course at the Department of Health at BTH.

Became aware of the inequalities
It was in her research and through her national development work in child health care that Johanna Tell was drawn to the inequalities. It gave her inspiration and motivation to develop “Child health care, teamwork and improvement work to promote children’s health” – a course especially for specialist doctors, specialist nurses and psychologists that started for the first time last week.

– Child health care must be adapted and follow changes in societal development and public health, and the development of knowledge is rapid. It is therefore important that child health care staff keep up to date with current research and current guidelines and participate in improvement work and team collaboration, says Johanna Tell.

Specialists in a number of areas participate in the course
The content of the course has been developed in collaboration with central child health care teams throughout the country to meet identified needs. Participants will be able to share knowledge from specialists in a variety of areas. The lecturers from, among others, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the National Food Administration and a number of regions in Sweden cover everything from children’s motor development, attachment, dietary advice, vaccination, equal parenting support, etc.