Perceived needs for team-based visits in Swedish child healthcare services exceed its existence-A mixed-methods study targeting healthcare professionals

Abstract

Aim: To investigate both quantitatively and qualitatively the differences between participation in team-based visits (TBVs) and perceived needs for TBVs from the perspectives of healthcare professionals, in the context of the Swedish 3-tier national Child Healthcare programme.

Methods: A study-specific questionnaire, including multiple-choice questions with fixed and free-text response options, was developed, and used. To capture healthcare professionals' experiences and find explanations for the quantitative results in qualitative data, a convergent parallel mixed-methods study design was used. Descriptive statistics and McNemar's test were used to analyse the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.

Results: Healthcare professionals perceived the need for TBVs in the Swedish Child Healthcare Services (CHS) to a high extent. The largest difference between the perceived need for TBVs and experienced TBVs was for indications associated with psychosocial problems. The quantitative findings were explored by the qualitative findings. Both individual and organisational factors influenced TBVs.

Conclusion: Perceived needs for TBVs in Swedish CHS exceed its existence. Healthcare professionals require TBVs delivered by interprofessional teams, in line with proportionate universalism. Accordingly, organisational structures (e.g. colocation and clear instructions on how to distribute TBVs) and human resources (e.g. psychologists and social worker) are needed.

Keywords: Child Healthcare Services; interprofessional teamwork; mixed method; proportionate universalism; team-based visits.