PEREIRA, M. E. N.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/0452186808926885; PEREIRA, Márcia Erika Nascimento.
Abstract:
To understand motivations and challenges faced by mothers in adhering to continued
child care in childcare consultations. Method: qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study,
anchored in Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory of Human Development, carried out with
18 mothers of children undergoing childcare care, distributed across six Family Health Units,
in a city in Curimataú Paraibano, from October to December 2023. Mothers who met the
following inclusion criteria took part in the research: being a mother of children registered at
the USF; be over 18 years old; express conditions of understanding regarding the interview
questions; and who have attended a childcare appointment at least once within a six-month
period. Those who, after scheduling, did not attend the interview after three attempts were
excluded. For data collection, a semi-structured interview guide was used. The data were
processed in the software Interface de R pour les Analyzes Multidimensionnelles de Textes et
de Questionnaires (Iramuteq), whose textual analysis occurred using the Similitude Tree,
followed by Bardin's content analysis. This research project was approved by the Human
Research Ethics Committee of the Education and Health Center of the Federal University of
Campina Grande, under opinion no.: 6.145.387, and CAAE: 70694023.7.0000.0154. Results:
a similarity tree was obtained formed by four halos or groups of words, containing as
highlighted words: “accompaniment”, “important”, “being”, “child”, “accompany” and
“consultation”. Next, the thematic category was listed: Motivations and challenges for mothers
to attend childcare consultations: elements and perceptions. The mothers listed the nurse as
responsible for providing guidance on the importance of childcare consultations, and the child's
health as the main motivation for their adherence to the consultations. However, two mothers
stated that they did not understand or know what this consultation was, as well as not having
received guidance about it. Furthermore, although all participants stated that they considered it
important to monitor the child during the childcare consultation, two mothers reported facing
difficulties when attending the Family Health Unit, such as having other children and working
outside the home. Final considerations: the majority of mothers have knowledge about
childcare consultations and list motivations for adhering to continued child care through
childcare. The main motivation is to guarantee the child's health, through monitoring of weight,
development and growth, as well as updating the vaccination schedule. However, having other
children and working outside the home are elements that make it difficult to regularly attend
appointments. Therefore, the need for the health team to promote actions that encourage the
effective participation of mothers in childcare consultations to guarantee continued care is
highlighted.