Health Visiting. a Rediscovery

Description

This timely and relevant new edition of an established and well regarded text is essential reading for those training to become health visitors and those who are practitioners working with and in the community. As we celebrate the 150 year anniversary of the profession in 2012, Health Visiting: A Rediscovery has been thoroughly revised and updated since the last edition to reflect the many developments in health policy, public health priorities and health visiting practice. The focus of the book, however, remains the same: placing the health visitor at the forefront of supporting and working with children and families, ensuring the child has the best possible start in life. The increasing importance of working with communities and reaffirming the public health role of the health visitor are discussed and debated. The new edition takes into account the challenges and increasing need for health visitors to engage with research evidence and to evaluate their practice.

Key features:

• A definitive, comprehensive, updated textbook on the role of the Health Visitor
• Incorporates the practice of public health and working with communities
• Includes brand new chapter on the importance of safeguarding children and the enhanced child protection role of the Health Visitor
• Timely and topical
• Essential reading for all nurses working in the community, those training as Specialist Community Public Health Nurses and undergraduate students undertaking public health, primary and community care course units.
• Features case studies and learning activities

New to This Edition

• Includes recent developments in include recent developments in supporting families such as Family Nurse Partnerships; First Parent; Positive Parenting etc.
• A new chapter on ‘Safeguarding Children: Debates and dilemmas for Health Visitors’, exploring the health visitor’s role in safeguarding children.

Table of Contents

• List of Contributors
• Introduction

1. Managing Knowledge in Health Visiting / Kate Robinson

• Introduction
• Defining health visiting practice
• What do health visitors do – and where do they do it?
• Evidence-based medicine
• The current landscape of evidence-based practice
• Refuting evidence-based practice
• So does it work – and if not, why not?
• Redefining evidence-based practice
• Managing knowledge and evidence in practice
• Case study 1.1: National policy-making in relation to inequalities in health
• Case study 1.2: Introducing new technology
• Case study 1.3: Creating guidelines in primary care
• Case study 1.4: Protocol-based decision-making in nursing
• Case study 1.5: Knowledge management in primary care
• Lessons from the case studies
• Communities of practice
• Reflective practice
• Clients: what do they know and how do they know it?
• Social networking sites
• The debate
• Summary
• References
• Appendix 1: Activities for Chapter 1

2. Health Visiting: Context and Public Health Practice / Martin Smith and Maria Horne

• Introduction
• Public health
• Defining public
• Defining health
• Defining public health
• Human rights and public health
• The principles of health visiting
• The search for health needs
• The stimulation of an awareness of health needs
• The influence on policies affecting health
• The facilitation of health enhancing activities
• Health inequalities
• Summary
• References
• Appendix 2: Activities for Chapter 2

3. The Community Dimension / Rosamund Bryar and Jean Orr

• Introduction
• Defining community
• Impact of communities on health
• The role of health visitors with communities
• Gaining an understanding of the health of your local community
• Windshield survey
• Public health walk
• Health needs assessment
• Using health promotion models to support community working
• Summary
• References
• Appendix 3: Activities for Chapter 3

4. Approaches to Supporting Families / Karen I. Chalmers

• Introduction
• Models of intervention in family life
• Three models relevant to health visiting practice in families with young children
• Application of models in practice
• Policies
• Evidence for interventions to support families
• Characteristics of programmes to support families with young children
• Early home visiting programmes
• Current home visiting programmes
• Family Nurse Partnership Programme
• Flying Start – Wales
• Starting Well – Scotland
• The Triple – P Programme – Positive Parenting Programme
• Sure Start Programmes
• Working with families
• Empirical evidence on relationship development
• Challenges
• Public health agenda
• Level of evidence
• Adhering to the programme criteria
• High needs families
• Practice specialisation
• Concerns about child safety
• Adequate resources
• Summary
• References
• Appendix 4: Activities for Chapter 4

5. Safeguarding Children: Debates and Dilemmas for Health Visitors / Julianne Harlow and Martin Smith

• Introduction
• The key concepts
• Defining child
• Defining childhood
• Defining safeguarding
• Defining child abuse
• Defining significant harm
• Incidence and prevalence of child abuse
• Assessment of vulnerable children
• The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families
• Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
• Graded Care Profile
• Working together
• Confidentiality and information sharing
• Supervision
• Summary
• References
• Appendix 5: Activities for Chapter 5

6. Evaluating Practice / Karen A. Luker and Gretl A. McHugh

• Introduction
• Sources of evidence
• Evaluation – the problem of definition
• Conceptualising evaluation
• The care planning process
• Actual and potential problems
• Evaluation and evaluative research
• Evaluation of healthcare
• Structure, process and outcome evaluation
• Additional issues in evaluating the practice of health visiting
• Record-keeping
• Problem-orientated recording
• Summary
• References
• Appendix 6: Activities for Chapter 6

• Bibliography
• Index