What is good parental education? Interviews with parents who have attended parental education sessions

The aim of the study was to highlight the experiences and expectations of Swedish parents with respect to general parental education within child healthcare. Interviews were carried out with 25 parents who had attended education sessions. With a few exceptions the fathers did not take part, and those mothers who did comprised a relatively highly educated group; their views therefore predominate in this study. Socially vulnerable parents such as the unemployed and immigrants took part more sporadically in the meetings, which is why less material is available from these groups. The arrangement and analysis of the material was done using qualitative content analysis. We identified two main categories of importance: 'parental education content' and 'parental education structure'. The parents were on the whole satisfied with the content with respect to the child's physical and psychosocial development. On the other hand, first-time parents expressed a degree of uncertainty with respect to the new parent roles and parent relation and they thought that the education should place more emphasis on the interplay between the parents and between child and parents. The degree of confidence in the nurse as group leader was mainly high. The parents thought that the groups functioned well socially and were satisfied with the organization of the meetings. They did, however, demand clearer structure and framework with respect to the content. Since the aim of legally established parental education is to improve the conditions of childhood growth and to provide support to parents, it must be considered especially important to provide resources so that the socially vulnerable groups in the community may also be reached.