Doctors as disseminators? Practicing physicians as multipliers for community-based prevention networks in a large city in western Germany

Abstract

Aim: Practicing physicians have a special position as disseminators of community-based prevention for children. However, it is unclear to what extent physicians inform parents about programs. The study investigated: To what extent do physicians disseminate information about community-based prevention for children aged 0–7? Do differences exist along family’s socioeconomic position (SEP) and immigrant background? Subject and methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a German school entrance examination. Parents were invited to participate in a survey on community-based prevention with information about their awareness and information source. SEP was measured by parental education, immigrant background by country of birth. For nine services types, we counted how often parents named physicians and other professional groups as information sources. To estimate social differences, we calculated adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Survey participants included 6480 parents (response 65.49%). Compared to other information sources, physicians were mentioned less frequently. For example, regarding language therapy, 31.2% of parents were informed by healthcare/social services, and 4.4% by physicians. Lower educated parents were less frequently informed by physicians about counseling services (OR 0.58; 95% CI 0.46–0.73) compared to higher educated parents. Parents with immigrant background were informed less often about parenting skills courses (OR 0.79; 95% CI 0.70–0.90) compared to parents without immigrant background, but more often about language therapy (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.13–1.91). No further social differences were observed. Conclusion: The role of physicians as disseminators for community-based prevention is expandable. They should promote parenting skills courses in a socially sensitive way.