Positive Changes in Mothers who Received Home Visits Provided by Public Health Nurses for the Prevention of Child Abuse

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study was to clarify positive changes in mothers who received home visits provided by public health nurses because of suspected or possible child abuse.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted regarding home visits involving 9 public health nurses who had more than 5 years of experience in providing home visits for families who were suspected or were at risk for occurrence of child abuse. Eighteen cases were analyzed for “positive changes and improvements observed in mothers after providing support” using a qualitative and inductive approach.
Results: The analysis of positive changes among mothers were identified and grouped into the following 5 categories: “Improvement of poor parenting”, “Reduction of negative attitudes towards parenting”, “Physical and mental improvements”, “Use of community services and expansion of social relationships”, and “Building trust with public health nurses”.
Conclusions: Positive changes were observed after support provided by public health nurses, such as improvements in mothers’ parenting, links with community services, and expansion of parenting support. Further studies must be conducted to examine the relationships between the positive changes in mothers and child abuse prevention.