The Institute of Health Visiting, which Hertfordshire University colleagues have been involved in founding, has launched a new series of free fact sheets for parents with Children under 5 years of age. These can be accessed here and have been developed and tested with parents.

For parents

http://www.ihv.org.uk/for_families/factsheet_for_parents

The new resources cover key priority health themes for parents and professionals, with series of fact sheets available for each of these themes.

• Nutrition
• Breastfeeding
• Bonding and behaviour
• Child safety
• Common illnesses and conditions e.g. colic & crying, eczema, scarlet fever
• Immunisations
• Sleep and safer sleep
• Fathers
• Childhood conditions that need specialist support e.g. deafness and hearing difficulties, nystagmus

Fact sheets for Professionals

http://www.ihv.org.uk/policy_professional/ihv_good_practice_points_for_health_visitors

A series of specialist fact sheets for professionals is  also available for each of these themes:

• Homeless families
• Prisoners’ families
• Gypsy and traveller families
• Sikh families
• Chinese families
• Bereaved families
• Families living with a child with special needs
• Families living with a child with autism
• Working with domestic violence

A resource on working with minority groups is also available

http://www.ihv.org.uk/policy_professional/good_practice_points_for_working_with_minority_gro

Health visitors are an important public health service. They focus on prevention and on giving children and families vital help and support in the early years of a child’s life. Every family with a child under five has a named health visitor, who works to promote the health of the whole family including advising on all aspects of children’s growth and development; sleep, healthy eating, immunisation, parental wellbeing and adjusting to becoming parents.