Children and adolescents
Activity 1a.1: needs assessment
Needs assessment represents a basis for planning improvements of preventive healthcare for children and adolescents (PHCA) and approaches for reducing inequalities in health. Data will also be prepared, which will enlighten the special needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups of children and adolescents with the aim to prepare models of services, which will address those needs efficiently and adequately.Needs assessment will include:
1. Analysis of data and information, attained with different research methods and additional argument of conclusions, especially for those fields of preventive care where weaknesses and gaps are found. Based on the later, we will be able to prepare a proposal for improvements.
2. Evaluation of healthcare needs of vulnerable or disadvantaged groups of children and adolescents as well as of their entering into the healthcare system. The findings are important for the formation of adjusted programmes and efficient interventions for groups with special needs as well as the approaches for the inclusion of children and adolescents from these groups into the healthcare system.
3. Aspects and experiences of PHCA users who will provide answer to those questions that cannot be answered with data analyses.
Needs assessment results will serve as the basis for the definition of interventions and approaches, developed in the project and their placement in the system. Thus, a starting point will be defined, which will enable the evaluation of achievements in the upgrade of the preventive healthcare.
Activity1a.2: programme development and modelling
Models for the formation of adolescent friendly preventive healthcare services in different environments will be developed. Additionally, approaches for better inclusion of vulnerable and disadvantaged children and adolescents into programmes for preventive healthcare will be developed, with the emphasis on health promotion as well as the prevention and early detection of possible problems. The development of intervention for overweight children and adolescents will be prepared as a model.In the field of health education, we will gather user-friendly approaches, contents and tools for children, adolescents, parents and future parents while various health-educational materials and tools will be developed for educators and users.
Activity 1a.3: preparation of a set of indicators and methodology for monitoring and evaluation of the preventive programme
A set of national indicators will be developed in the framework of this activity, which will help us evaluate the health of children and adolescents. These indicators will also serve as a main tool for monitoring and evaluation of preventive programmes in the field of preventive healthcare of children and adolescents. Methodological guidelines for data collection will be developed.Because of their rich experiences in the field of data collection and indicator development, Norwegian Institute of Public Health will be closely cooperating in the development of outputs within this activity.
Activity 1a.4: piloting of new models
Models and tools, developed in the framework of this project, will be pilot tested in different settings. The emphasis will be on urban and rural environment. Next to experts, who will be involved in the development of new models, other providers will be included. Prior to piloting, we will prepare a short education for them, which will also serve as a model for the training of interdisciplinary teams on local level. Reports on the implementation of piloting of proposed models will be prepared at the end.In addition, the implementation of health education will be pilot tested, whereas the user friendly and vulnerable groups-sensitive approaches will be tested in schools for future parents, in preschool children and their parents and in schoolchildren and adolescents.