Implementing the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) in universal services: Qualitative interviews with health visitors

Wellcome Open Research

article

Philippa K Bird¹  Zoe Hindson³  Abigail Dunn³  Anna Cronin de Chavez¹  Josie Dickerson¹  Joanna Howes⁷  Tracey Bywater³ 

[1] Bradford Institute for Health Research;Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust;Department of Health Sciences, University of York;Family Action;Cordis Bright;London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine;Better Start Bradford;Bradford Metropolitan District Council

关键词: parent-infant relationship;    attachment;    child development;    infant mental health;    qualitative;    mother-infant dyad;   

DOI  :  10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17551.2

学科分类：内科医学

来源: Wellcome

【 摘 要 】

Background: A secure parent-infant relationship lays the foundations for children’s development, however there are currently no measurement tools recommended for clinical practice. We evaluated the clinical utility of a structured assessment of the parent-infant relationship (the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale, MPAS) in a deprived, multi-ethnic urban community in England. This paper answers the question: what are health visitors’ views on the parent-infant relationship, and experiences of piloting the MPAS? It explores the barriers and facilitators to implementation, and complements the paper on psychometric properties and representativeness reported in Dunnet al (2022).  Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 health visitors and data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Health visitors saw identification and support of the parent-infant relationship as an important part of their role, and reported benefits of the MPAS, including opening conversation and identifying and reporting concerns. Challenges included timing and workload, the appropriateness of language, perceived intrusiveness and understanding of the questions, and the length of the tool. Suggestions for improvements to the tool were put forward. Conclusions: The experiences, benefits and challenges identified help to explain results in Dunnet al, and the wide-ranging challenges identified would hinder assessment of the parent-infant relationship in routine practice. Further work with health professionals and parents has been undertaken to co-produce an acceptable, feasible and reliable tool for clinical practice.

【 授权许可】

CC BY