Educators and child health nurses: Working together to support responsive feeding practices in early childhood education and care

Concerns about food and eating are common among parents of young children. Child health nurses (CHNs) and educators in early childhood education and care (ECEC) often support parents with feeding advice and information. This presentation will discuss the NOURISH: Early Childhood Education project, which aimed to explore the potential role of CHNs in ECEC and to design and pilot professional development (PD) regarding responsive feeding for educators. Responsive feeding allows children to attend to their own cues of hunger and satiety, promoting autonomy and optimal growth (Di Santis et al., 2011).Eight focus groups were conducted in Southeast Queensland with CHNs (n = 20) and educators (n = 29) to explore attitudes and preferences regarding partnerships, PD and the use of responsive feeding practices. Transcripts were analysed using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (Damschroder et al., 2009).Participants indicated that there was limited contact between CHNs and ECEC but saw value in fostering links within local communities. They agreed parents rely on both nurses and educators for information. Partnerships could ensure educators are aware of local services, facilitating timely referral of families in need. Linking nurses and educators through PD could ensure consistent information is provided to parents. Participants suggested re-orientation of services, e.g. nursing consults at ECEC centres, may meet the needs of working parents. There was a strong preference for face-to-face PD in groups rather than individually online and for incorporating reflective practice.Subsequently, a multi-modal PD session was developed, which was facilitated by a CHN during the centre’s staff meeting. The CHN guided educators through four short videos. Each video was followed by self-reflection and discussion. Impact was evaluated by comparing observed feeding practices, pre- and post-PD, using the ‘Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation’ tool (Ward et al., 2008).The session was delivered to 64 educators across six centres. An increase in the following feeding practices were observed: role-modelling (79% to 83%), educators eating same food (25% to 39%) and enthusiastic verbal modelling (33% to 43%). The proportion of mealtimes where educators gave verbal praise for eating healthy food increased (11% to 29%). Counter to expectations, educators were observed pressuring children to eat more often after the session (20% to 40%).The PD was well accepted and provided promising preliminary results but now needs to be trialled on a wider scale.