Nurturing Care for Healthier Futures
Authors:, Dr Jelena Jankovic, Assistant Minister of Health for Public Health, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia Dr Danijela Urosevic, Assistant Minister of Health for European Integration and International Relations, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia Dr Jelena Zajeganovic Jakovljevic, Health and ECD Specialist, UNICEF Serbia Mila…, Motivation, Nurturing Care for Healthier Futures - The past decade of child health care reform on the primary level in Serbia was marked by national efforts aimed at elevating family-centred, strengths-based care, early stimulation and developmental monitoring, home visiting, and early childhood interventions for the most vulnerable families. The paradigm…, National commitment paving the way for innovation of primary health care practices, Serbia joined the global community of countries that recognize optimal development in childhood as a priority of the 21st century, which as such is integrated into the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. The crucial role of the health sector was recognized also in the National Programme for ECD adopted by the Serbian Government in…, Nurturing Care Framework - Serbia showcasing country commitment and success, Five years after the launch of the NCF, in 2023, it was time to take stock of the uptake of the roadmap proposed in the Framework by governments and partners and to reflect on the value it has added to the field of early childhood development. In occasion of the 5 th anniversary According to the latest NCF Progress Report 2018-2023, the Nurturing…, Challenges driving the Nurturing Care agenda forward, While Serbia has made substantial progress over the last decades in improving child health, due mainly to well organized and accessible health-care services, including at the PHC level, many challenges remained. Like other countries in the region, Serbia has wide social and economic disparities. Children are the most vulnerable age group: In 2020…, Transformative Power of Nurturing Care in Innovating Primary Health Care through essential services, The path of innovation of practice in primary health care yielded significant outcomes. Serbia has improved support, through regular paediatric health care, home visiting nurse services and developmental counselling units, for supporting and monitoring of growth and development, education and counselling of parents in the field of nutrition,…, Professional development is core for advancing PHC services, New professional development programmes were developed for primary health care professionals. Capacity building packages introduced digital solutions and blended learning (online and face-to-face). The most important for expanding effectiveness and quality of care were steps to introduce supportive supervision and on-the-job training for health…, PHC-led early detection and family-centered early intervention for CwDD are changing reality of families and children, For the most at-risk children with developmental risks, difficulties and disabilities, family-oriented Early Childhood Intervention services have been modelled in Serbia to bring together primary health centres, pre-schools, and social welfare services. According to the model developed, ECI Services are being coordinated by Developmental…, Essential Public Health Care Services can rely on innovation and digital tools, Digital world has widened opportunities for reaching out and engaging with parents. We can proudly say that teleworking such as high-quality video counselling is an important pillar complementing the work of home visiting nurses and ECI teams in Serbia. slika telefon bebo UNICEF Serbia/2023/Pančić The new regional mobile application for parents -…, Increased satisfaction and improved practices of parents, Parental well-being is more and more in the focus of everyday practice of health care workers, and benefits of a father’s involvement in child rearing is more systematically fostered by health professionals. These efforts are mirrored in the improvement of parent-child interaction, involvement of both mothers and fathers of young children for…, LOOKING FORWARD AND REFELECTING ON THE IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESS FACTORS, The Ministry of Health remains committed to strengthening ECD support to children and their families across the country in a sustainable manner through cross sectoral coordination between health, education, and social sectors, particularly to meet the needs of the most vulnerable families. Continuous evidence generation feeds the programming and…, Acknowledgements, Special acknowledgment to all PHC centres, their managers, health professionals and associates from DCU teams that have been pioneers in introducing innovations in their day-to-day practice. Special thanks goes to all our partners that has jointly with Ministry of Health and UNICEF been upfront in developing and supporting health system…, Quotes:, [1] SERBIA: Capitalizing on strengths (nurturing-care.org) [2] https://nurturing-care.org/events/launch-of-the-nurturing-care-framework-progress-report/ [3] Nurturing care framework progress report 2018-2023: reflections and looking forward. Geneva: World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (…
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