Children and parents’ perspectives on health assessments in Dutch preventive youth health care

Abstract Background Preventive youth healthcare services need to evolve to align with public health- and societal challenges. The aim of this study was to gain knowledge about children's and parent's perspectives on health assessments in Dutch preventive youth health care. Methods We conducted qualitative studies with children and parents: focus groups with children (9 to 12 years old) in primary school, who had a health assessment in the last schoolyear; and semi-structured interviews with parents who were invited with their child for this assessment. Topics covered were; experiences with preventive youth health care services, involvement of parents and children during the health assessment, motivation to participate, and suggestions for improvement. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted, using the 6-step approach by Braun and Clark. Preliminary Results Six focus groups were conducted in which 32 children were included. Thematic analysis resulted in four main themes; monitoring health matters to children, they expect a two-way conversation with a nice professional, parents’ role and presence are perceived ambiguous, and preventive youth health care should be more child-friendly. We conducted 23 interviews with a heterogenous sample of parents. We identified three main themes; health assessments are perceived important, knowledge about preventive youth health care in primary school is lacking, and parents need better practical information. Conclusions Both children and parents think monitoring health is important, and assessments should be more intensified. To align with children and parents’ needs it is important to inform them better about the content and purpose regarding preventive youth health care and health assessments. Key messages • Parents and children value health assessments despite limited knowledge of preventive health care. • Their perspectives help tailor public health care, striving for services that are best for children.