Health Professionals

How do health professionals translate available evidence on early childhood allergy prevention into health-literacy responsive practice? 

Pediatricians, general practitioners (GPs), and midwives are in regular contact with expectant and new parents. Research has shown that preventive counselling by health professionals can be effective in improving patients’ health literacy (HL) and health behaviour. Providing effective advice on early childhood allergy prevention (ECAP) relies on two aspects: First, health professionals need to keep informed on the dynamically changing research evidence on ECAP, as well as consider popular misconceptions and fears, and to translate this knowledge into clear recommendations to advise their patients’ families (knowledge translation). 

Second, they need to know and employ counselling techniques that respond to parental HL needs and create an HL-supportive practice setting (health literacy-responsive care). Due to a lack of research in this area, it is paramount to better understand how evidence is translated by health professionals into practical knowledge, to understand their views and practices concerning ECAP and HL, and to explore barriers and facilitators that they may encounter in their daily practice.

Study objectives

The objectives of this project are to explore:

  1. pediatricians, general practitioners, midwives and Health professionals  take the evidence on ECAP, translate it into recommendations for their patients and pass it on, and
  2. how they consider Health professionals challenges in their ECAP counselling and organization of their practice setting.

This project focuses on the healthcare environment shaping parental HL in ECAP. It is linked to „Living Systematic Review“,  which provides the up-to-date research evidence on ECAP, and to „Conflict of Interest“, concerning the relevance of COI in guideline generation for health professionals’ care practice. „User Needs“ addresses the parental views on HL  in ECAP, therefore, mutual consultation is planned when developing the interview guides and for triangulating the results.