Parent's Needs for Center-based Child Care Health Program

보육시설 영유아의 건강관리를 위한 특수보육 요구조사 I - 부모의 요구를 중심으로 -

Purpose: To investigate the actual conditions of health care management in child day care centers and parents needs for a Center-based Child Care Health Program. Methods: Study design was cross-sectional descriptive study. 937 parents from 33 day care centers in Seoul completed a structured questionnaire. Results: 73.0% of the parents experienced sick events with their child at least once or more every 1-3months. These events resulted in 35.2% of the parents having to leave work early or to be absent from their jobs. 30.4% were asked to drive a sick child from the child day care centers to their home. Most parents (76.7%) agreed on the need for a Center-based Child Care Health Program (CCCHP), and expected general health & illness management, and growth & development evaluation from the CCCHP. Conclusion: These results show that there is a great demand for Center-based Child Care Health Program. They suggest that there is an urgent need to develop CCCHPs to promote children's health and to support parents. Also the results of this study can be utilized as a basis for the establishment of a childcare policy in Korea.