PROMOTION OF CHILDRENS EARLY PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PRIMARYHEALTH-CARE SERVICES

The paper presents the study design of the development and organisatio n of an EU/WHO multicentre study on the promotion of children's early psychosocial development through primary health care services. The aim of the programme is to develop training for primary health care worke rs (PHCWs) that improves their ability to assess factors relevant to c hildren's psychosocial development and gives them preventive approache s to foster that development, building on the families' strengths. The focus is on the period from conception to the end of the second year of the child's Life. Two main components are the training of the PHCWs and the semi-structured interviews that guide the workers in practice . The training has content and structure that is feasible within prima ry health care resources working in collaboration with mental health s ervices. The programme is evaluated in terms of (a) the impact of trai ning on both the PHCWs' knowledge and attitudes with regard to infant behaviour and development, and on practice as assessed by the delivery of the semi-structured interview; and (b) the effect of the intervent ion on maternal well-being, infant language development and behaviour, home environment and mother-infant interaction. The programme is taki ng place in Cyprus, Greece, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Portug al, Slovenia and Turkey.