The Effect of a Postpartum Nursing Intervention Program for Immigrant Mothers

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to develop a postpartum nursing intervention program for immigrant women and evaluate the effects on postpartum depression, child rearing confidence, home environment, and infant temperament. METHODS: This research was a non-equivalent control group pre-test and post-test design. Participants were pregnant immigrant women from China, Vietnam, and the Philippines residing in Kyunggi province and Seoul. Twenty women were assigned to the intervention group, and 19 women to the control group. For the intervention group, the women were visited at home and provided emotional support and parenting education for three months. To analyze the intervention effects, repeated measure ANOVA and t-test were used. RESULTS: Child rearing confidence was higher in the experimental group than the control group at interaction effect of time and group, six weeks and three months postpartum. However, there were no significant effects for maternal depression, infant temperament, and husband support. Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) score in the experimental group was higher than that of the control group at three month postpartum. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that the nursing intervention program had positive effects and can be used to further the health status of immigrant mothers and children.

Perception of the Importance of Health Promotion Behavior for Infants and Toddlers according to Mothers of Children in this Age Group and Graduate Students in Nursing

PURPOSE: This study was done to examine the importance of health promotion behavior for infants and toddlers as perceived by mothers of children in early childhood, and graduate students in nursing and to provide information for health promotion in early childhood. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional survey research study. The participants were 91 mothers of children in early childhood, and 115 graduate students in nursing. RESULTS: The comparisons showed that graduate students in nursing reported higher perception of the importance health promotion behavior for infants and toddlers than did the mothers. In health promotion behavior, the highest score was in the category of safety. CONCLUSION: Providing information by nurses is necessary to promote health promotion behavior for mothers of children in early childhood. Therefore, it is important for healthcare professionals to develop effective programs for these mothers who want to promote good health promotion behavior in their children.

A Study to Assess the Need of Customized Visiting Health Care Services for Children according to Socioeconomic Status in a Province

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to survey children's health status and need of customized visiting health care services in one province. METHODS: The participants in this study were 237 caregivers of infants and preschoolers. Data were collected at the participant's home or public health center. RESULTS: Many of the children did not receive developmental screening tests or dental examinations. In the beneficiary group, the prenatal checkup rate and children's vaccination rate were lower, and caregivers had more health problems than the other groups. On the assessment of home safety, unsafe conditions were more frequently found in the beneficiary group. The caregivers in the beneficiary group showed lower child rearing confidence than the other groups, and wanted customized visiting health care services most in the areas of developmental screening, regular health check-up and counseling, nutritional supplementation, and oral health care. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that it is necessary for children and parents in poverty to be provided with professional home visiting interventions for the promotion of child health and prevention of developmental problems and diseases. These findings can be used for developing future customized visiting health care service programs for infants and children in this community area.