Background:

All children in Sweden are invited to health visits to the school nurse to talk about their health. However, health visits with children of foreign origin might involve challenges when the child and school nurse do not share language and or culture. Such challenges might hinder the child's participation as e.g. sharing needs and experiences important for their health. Hence, school nurses' promotion of participation for these children need to be clarified to develop knowledge on how to promote health. The aim was to investigate school nurses' descriptions of promoting participation for children of foreign origin in health visits.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted, using a web-based questionnaire distributed to all school nurses in Sweden. It contained eight open-ended questions regarding promotion of participation for children of foreign origin. Answers were provided by 673 Swedish school nurses and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results:

The preliminary result shows that school nurses use three approaches to promote participation: 1) adjusting according to the child's proficiency in Swedish and/or cultural or national background, 2) adjusting according to the child's individual needs, and 3) doing the same for all children regardless of their origin. These approaches are used throughout the health visit, although the most commonly was number 1. Such adjustments included the school nurse considering cultural aspects, simplifying their way of talking, or asking the child about their culture or background.

Conclusion:

Adjustment according to the child's proficiency in Swedish and/or cultural or national background are warranted to promote participation in health visits with children of foreign origin. These will strengthen the opportunities for children to share their experiences as well as the encounter between school nurses and children.

Key messages:

• School nurses adjust promotion of participation when encountering children of foreign origin.
• Adjusting promotion of participation in health visits will enable children to share their health needs.