Editorial

Abstract

This edition of Child Care in Practice builds the journal’s aim of highlighting often-neglected topics that are, paradoxically, of global interest. The edition commences with attention to health care in developing countries. These papers are diverse in focus and include a range of research approaches including qualitative studies utilising semi-structured interviews and focus groups, surveys, and large-scale administrative data. Combined, the papers demonstrate the effects of socioeconomic factors and lack of infrastructure on poor outcomes among infants and children. Limited access to services, cultural factors and the role of significant others in parental decision-making point to the value of community development and the need to consider children in the wider social context in which they, and their families, are embedded. The studies contribute to the evidence base for public health policies and practices in relation to children’s safety and well-being. The implications for children’s long-term health and developmental trajectories are not limited to the study settings—child poverty as a structural determinant in child outcomes, and the need for professionals to comprehend differences in childrearing practices—which cut across international jurisdictions and are of consequence for the range of professionals concerned with children’s services in both developing and economically developed nations. The first article in this edition addresses a major global health concern—morbidity, disability and mortality resulting from unintentional child injury in the home. Alrimawi et al. (2021) utilised naturalistic inquiry and maximum variation sampling to explore the perceptions of Palestinian primary healthcare professionals (n = 24) on factors facilitating or impeding the prevention of home injuries among children aged under five years in Ramallah. The findings indicate that professional, parental and environmental factors all play a role in preventable injury, disability and death. The specific need for more training and time for professionals to engage with and educate families was a salient finding. Additionally, low income was found to impede parental ability to create a safer environment for children. As possibly the first qualitative study reporting Palestinian health-care professionals’ perspectives of prevention of unintended child injury, the article makes a significant contribution to the literature. The following article, by Adonteng-Kissi (2021), examines the complexities and tensions of child labour in Ghana. This exploratory study, based on semi-structured interviews with parents whose children were or were not involved in child labour, considers the extent to which parents in rural and urban communities in Ghana view child labour as cultural or as an economic necessity. The study demonstrates that cultural influences and economic necessities should not be considered in isolation and that prevention and intervention efforts need to address the interrelatedness of these factors. This knowledge is important for child welfare professionals who need to understand the cultural practices that affect parenting styles of Ghanaian parents, and their attitudes to child labour, in order to design parenting frameworks and interventions accordingly, rather than relying on Western approaches.