Development and usability of a Hands‐On Assessment Tool for Child Health: The HATCH.

CHILDREN'S health; COMMUNITY health nursing; CONTENT analysis; EXPERIMENTAL design; FOCUS groups; HEALTH promotion; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICALLY underserved areas; META-analysis; PARENTS; PREVENTIVE health services; QUESTIONNAIRES; RESEARCH evaluation; RESEARCH funding; SURVEYS; USER-centered system design; RESEARCH methodology evaluation; HOSPITAL nursing staff

Aim: To develop a comprehensive, hands‐on assessment tool for assessing health in children under five in underserved regions. Design Methodological study design and usability testing were used. Sample Eight nurses working at two health posts and 261 children under five living in the migrant villages participated in the study. Measurement The developed tool was evaluated using 10 items of a questionnaire based on the honeycomb model of Morville (2004). Community nurses administered the questionnaire then followed with a focus group interview after completing a child health exam using the developed tool. Data were collected during July 2017. Results: The Hands‐on Assessment Tool for Child Health is composed of developmental screening, identification of risk factors and clinical signs, growth measurement, diagnostic tests and interpretation of each subdomain, and final impressions. Management strategies include parent education, resource networking, referral to a paediatrician, and follow‐up plans. Usability testing revealed high scores on the facets "valuable," "useful," "desirable," and "findable." Conclusions: Considering the demand for hands‐on tools in underserved regions, the developed tool can provide nurses with resources for competent management of child assessment, interpretation, and nurses' intervention strategies, fortified with clinical judgement processes. SUMMARY STATEMENT: What is already known about this topic? Many child health problems are preventable with early detection and intervention. Health problems in children under five affect the growth and development of the whole life.Community nurses in underserved regions need comprehensive and hands‐on assessment tools with point‐of‐care to identify child health problems and provide right care.Currently developed assessment tools for child health have limitations for use in underserved areas. What this paper adds? The Hands‐on Assessment Tool for Child Health (HATCH) helped community nurses to identify the child's health status and nurses to establish a proper care plan.The tool provided clinical judgement process of assessment, interpretation, and nurses' intervention strategies. The implications of this paper: The result of the research can contribute to a concrete intervention strategy for child health promotion by assessing health and development in underserved regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]