Access to Early Childhood Interventions in Children̛s Hospital: Screening as Clinical Routine Procedure - Exploration and Transfer by a Specialized Team]

Background In order to prevent risks associated with insufficient family care, it is mandatory to provide early childhood interventions for parents unable to cope with their young children in best time. Children?s hospitals represent one pillar that hasnt been fully explored yet. Methods As a proof-of-concept, we performed a study to determine the feasibility of a standardized risk assessment tool during routine work of doctors and nurses in a university department. Results Our data indicate that a standardized screen to assess stress is powerful in identifying stressed parents, especially those with children under the age of one year. In this context, psychosocial stress in families with newborns was most frequently indicated. The placement rates into early childhood interventions (8.5%) and youth welfare services (11.3%) correspond to the literature. Discussion and Conclusion The standardized risk assessment tool can be used as a call button and delivers a basis for further differentiated exploration of the families by a specialized team and might be used to deliver services for these families. In summary children's hospitals might be useful to provide a low-threshold access into early childhood interventions.