New UCC child healthcare research revealed
By Cáit O’Neill
A UCC expert has called for equal access to early childhood care for all in Ireland. UCC lecturer Rebecca Jeffers presented new research at a conference in Dublin this week held by the Children’s Rights Alliance.
The new research by UCC social policy and child-health experts was commissioned by the Children’s Rights Alliance and seeks to revise Ireland’s early childhood care models through best practices in public health nursing (PHN).
Rebecca Jeffers, social policy lecturer at UCC and spearhead for the emerging research presented the findings at the conference - Breaking the Cycle: Developing a Public Model of Early Years and a Child-Health Workforce. She aims to solidify equal access to early childhood care amid Ireland’s ongoing housing crisis, rising cost of living and population growth.
Speaking with Ms Jeffers ahead of the event, she expanded on the current staffing crisis in public health nursing, citing low salaries and poor incentive to join the sector.
“There's going to be a significant need for increasing resourcing to the area. Salaries need to match the work and specialty as a means of attracting people to these roles. The training that public health nurses receive is quite extensive, particularly in respect to child and maternity.”
“Key stakeholders need to be part of these discussions. Unions need to be as much a part of the conversations.”
Ms Jeffers spoke on the persistent trend of children living in poverty in Ireland. She called for specialist support for these communities, with relevant training provided to PHNs to mitigate unequal access to child-healthcare.
“In terms of actually developing specialist public health, nurses who are located within particular communities and dedicated to children's health need a longer period for which that training can occur, to reflect this diversification of needs that we're witnessing.”
“In the context of the discussion within the healthcare literature, this is the idea of ‘help seeking stigma’. If there's any additional friction in terms of trying to access the help you need, it can be really difficult for people to take those steps.”
In August, Cork Independent reported that nearly 4,000 children remained on crèche daycare waiting lists. The emerging research exemplifies the need for greater policy commitment to ensure childhood care services are readily available, for people to access “with a degree of immediacy”. The issue of insufficient childcare services “is equally an issue of resourcing and increasing the attractiveness of the social and healthcare professions, particularly those that are directed toward children,” explained Ms Jeffers.
A primary aim of Rebecca Jeffers’ research is to implement ‘progressive universalism’, an approach to children’s healthcare that ensures ubiquitous access to services, while providing additional support for children in need.
“Effectively, the idea is that communities or families who need targeted support will also get that targeted assistance. Universalism refers to a service for everyone, then the progressive aspect is recognising that some people may need additional support or assistance.”
The conference on Tuesday highlighted the ongoing need for political will in support of the early years workforce. A child’s experience in their formative years ensures greater success in education and wellbeing into adulthood.