The Parent Positive programme: opportunities for health visiting

Health visitors have a key role in programmes that support and enhance parenting as part of their public health work. This paper reports the findings of an in-depth study that explored how 12 purposefully sampled health visitors who had undergone training in the Parent Positive programme viewed their role after training and how they felt that it had influenced their practice. Participants reported that the training developed their communication skills, enabled them to make the links between public health and family focussed work, gave their role greater clarity and provided them with an opportunity to reflect on their practice with others. The paper identifies the implications for practice and the initial and continuing education of health visitors.