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Counseling Immigrant Parents about Food and Feeding Practices: Public Health Nurses' Experiences
Author(s) -
Holmberg Fagerlund Bettina,
Pettersen Kjell Sverre,
Terragni Laura,
Glavin Kari
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
public health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1525-1446
pISSN - 0737-1209
DOI - 10.1111/phn.12248
Subject(s) - immigration , public health , public health nursing , nursing , medicine , psychology , environmental health , political science , law
Objectives To describe the experiences of public health nurses ( PHN s) in counseling immigrant parents on food and feeding practices at child health centers ( CHC s). Design and Sample In this study employing a qualitative description ( QD ) approach, the participants ( n = 26) were PHN s from five CHC s in the greater Oslo region of Norway. Measures Data were collected through five focus group interviews and examined using qualitative content analysis. Results Counseling on food and feeding practices was an important topic in most consultations with immigrant parents. The PHN s were concerned that the child should eat ordinary, healthy food regularly. Immigrant families were often experienced as a “generic group” and the PHN s disclosed that they rarely adjusted their counseling strategy based on enquiries about families' food culture or parents' level of education or knowledge. Time constraints and language and cultural barriers were common challenges. The PHN s suggested that culturally adapted information materials and visual aids from health authorities could improve communication. Conclusions Counseling immigrant parents on food and feeding at CHC s is often challenging for PHN s. The study findings could be used in the development of guidelines to assist PHN s in delivering culturally competent counseling about food and feeding practices.