Child Care

Undernutrition in early childhood has long-term physical and intellectual consequences. Improving child growth should start before the age of two years and be an integrated effort between all sectors, covering all aspects such as diet and nutrient intake, disease reduction, optimum child care, and improved environmental sanitation. To discuss these issues, the Indonesian Danone Institute Foundation organized an expert meeting on Child Growth and Micronutrient Deficiencies: New Initiatives for Developing Countries to Achieve Millennium Development Goals. The objective of the meeting was to have a retrospective view on child growth: lessons learned from programs to overcome under-nutrition in the developed countries and to relate the situation to the Indonesian context, as well as to discuss implications for future programs. Recommendations derived from the meeting include focus intervention on the window of opportunity group, re-activation of the Integrated Health Post at the village...

The communication component of the Child Care MAPP Web site was designed according to an established theoretical base, and was critically reviewed. The communication materials were targeted for use by trainers who educate child care providers, and may be incorporated into higher education curricula to guide nutrition educators who will be working in child nutrition and child feeding programs. Evaluation of the impact of the communication materials on a group of trainers demonstrated a significant increase in participant confidence to communicate about nutrition. In particular, the child- and adult-centered phrases developed as a novel and developmentally appropriate approach to nutrition education were evaluated by respondents as useful, and were found to increase confidence to communicate with children. Future research should further examine the use of child-centered and adult-centered nutrition phrases in nutrition education and higher education, to determine whether the way in which adults talk with children improves children’s knowledge about nutrition, and whether use of the phrases can positively affect children’s nutrition behaviors.

To describe the nutritional outcomes of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in a village-level intervention. This observational longitudinal study on 179 children aged <3 years was conducted in seven tribal blocks of Central and Eastern India with SAM managed in a comprehensive day care program. 76% children with SAM showed improvement over a 4-6 months period with 37% shifting to normal anthrometric status. There was sa significant shift in Z scores. This community-based intervention showed fair results for management of children with SAM at village level.

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a science policy concept that gained traction from 2000 onwards in the EU and US, in which alignment on purposes and values between different stakeholders is a key aspect. This thought experiment problematizes this particular notion: ethically acceptable and societally desirable outcomes are not necessarily achieved when alignment is a consequence of early closure. To argue this point, we took the example of the potential development of scanning technology for the detection of paedophilia among job applicants, for which indicators of broad societal support were found in an RRI project on neuroimaging. We analysed this case by looking through several lenses, obtained by structured and non-structured literature searches. We explored how facts and values are masked when a taboo topic is considered. This results in the black boxing of the problem definition, potential solutions and development trajectories. Complex unstructured problems can t...

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) asserts the right of every child to self-determination, dignity, respect, non-interference, and the right to make informed decisions. The provision of quality care in health services tailored to children’s preferences means that health professionals have a responsibility to ensure children’s rights, and that the child is encouraged and enabled to make his or her view known on issues that affect them. This paper will help illuminate and differentiate between a child perspective and the child’s perspective in health care settings. The issues are supported with research which illustrates the different perspectives. Both perspectives are required to perceive and encounter children as equal human beings in child-centred health care settings.

Nearly 6 million children in the United States today live in households headed by a relative other than their parents. Most of these families are in informal arrangements that do not involve the child welfare system. Child welfare agencies in many states, however, are increasingly relying on relatives, primarily grandparents, to provide both temporary and permanent placements for children who cannot safely remain with their birth families.

The ability of low-income parents to find and maintain child care is critical for their success in the labor market. Yet, a variety of factors may complicate a parent's efforts to secure adequate care, not the least of which is the demand a job puts on the arrangement itself. The current study reports preliminary findings from an on-going qualitative interview study of parents working in the retail sector and their child care providers. Specifically, I examine the job characteristics and workplace environments of employees in one particular industrial sector – retail – and consider approaches to work-child care management described by a sample of hourly (non-management) employees with children aged 5 and under.

This chapter will: explore the social context in which ‘problem drug users’ and ‘inadequate parents’ are constructed; outline key issues and difficulties involved in working with problem drug users whose children are considered to be at risk of abuse or neglect; draw on research carried out with social workers, health visitors, drugs clinic workers and parents to examine the barriers of working together to assess children’s needs where parents misuse drugs; and  explore strategies for better partnership approaches.

In comparison to the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) systems of many other advanced economies the German system can be characterised as relative uniform, when looking at programmes and providers. But in other ways, there are considerable variations. There are considerate regional differences in governance, funding, and attendance rates, in particular with respect to certain socio-economic groups. This paper

The federal government utilizes diversity management and inclusive organizational practices as principal strategies to achieve higher retention of diverse employees. Child care programs are one of the most important diversity management initiatives to enhance employees’ work–life balance and achieve higher retention. However, existing literature suggests that due to gender norms, child care responsibilities and child care programs have different implications for mothers-in-workforce as compared with fathers-in-workforce. Therefore, using 2010 to 2015 federal agency-level longitudinal panel analysis, this study, focuses on a gender-based examination of the effect of satisfaction with child care programs on the retention of male and female federal employees. Also examined is the moderating effect of organizational inclusion on the relationship between satisfaction with child care programs and employee retention. Findings suggest that structural provisions such as satisfactory child care programs are not adequate in enhancing retention of either male or female employees. Satisfaction with child care programs is less likely to increase retention of female employees than male employees. However, as compared with male employees, female employees are more likely to be retained when satisfactory child care programs are combined with inclusive organizational practices. The article discusses implications of these findings for public strategic human resources management, diversity management and inclusion practices, and gender equity.

Deficiencies in the quality of health care are major limiting factors to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals for child and maternal health. Quality of patient care in hospitals is firmly on the agendas of Western countries but has been slower to gain traction in developing countries, despite evidence that there is substantial scope for improvement, that hospitals have a major role in child survival, and that inequities in quality may be as important as inequities in access. There is now substantial global experience of strategies and interventions that improve the quality of care for children in hospitals with limited resources. The World Health Organization has developed a toolkit that contains adaptable instruments, including a framework for quality improvement, evidence-based clinical guidelines in the form of the Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children, teaching material, assessment, and mortality audit tools. These tools have been field-tested by doctors, nurs...