title: Parents׳ experiences of raising pre-school aged children in an outer-Melbourne growth corridor.
abstract: There is growing concern about the outer-suburbs in Australia as healthy places to raise children. This paper aimed to explore this from the perspectives of parents raising preschool-age children in an outer-Melbourne municipality. Findings showed that parents were positive about the natural environment as well as the provision of recreation areas and generally felt their neighbourhoods were a safe place for raising children. However, car-dependency, housing estate design and limited local job opportunities all appeared to contribute to social isolation amongst families. Using the Environments for Health Framework, this paper makes suggestions to improve liveability for families in this municipality.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia. Electronic address: fiona.andrews@deakin.edu.au.
authors.forename: Fiona Jane
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rich
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stockdale
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shelley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D057217:Economic Development; D004779:Environment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013383:Suburban Population; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Neighbourhood; Preschool child; Qualitative; Residential location; Suburb