title: Parental groups during the child's first year: an interview study of parents' experiences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To highlight what was important to parents with respect to consultation groups at well-child clinics.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Parents managing of their role as parents affect the child's health and are therefore an important priority for public health. Well-child clinics in Norway practise consultations in groups to support parents and to facilitate social network; however, few studies explore parents' perspective of this kind of groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Grounded theory.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used classical grounded theory with a generative and constant comparative approach. Data were collected through seven focus groups and two individual interviews with the parents of children aged 8-15 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The parents were most concerned about how to achieve connection without accountability and how to obtain relevant health information. They managed this by 'multipositioning', encompassing the strategies of: (1) practising conditional openness, (2) seeking to belong, (3) awaiting initiative and (4) expecting balanced health information. The use of these strategies explains how they resolved their challenges.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parental groups seem to be popular and have great potential to establish a social network; however, underestimating the need for structure and continuity in the groups might cause this opportunity to be missed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Understanding parents' perspectives will be useful when planning strategies to strengthen parental groups at well-child clinics and that the engaged organisers will account for this need to ensure public health work of high quality and effectiveness for parents.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hjälmhult
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Glavin
authors.forename: Toril
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okland
authors.forename: Sidsel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tveiten
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012944:Social Support
keywords: grounded theory; health information seeking; infant; parenting; public health nurse; social support