Examination of the Effectiveness of a Public Health Nurses’ National Call Center for Young Families

BACKGROUND: The Public Health Nurses Call Center (PHNCC) is an innovative, free-of-charge Israeli national pilot aimed at parents of 0-6 years old children. The Center provides information, counseling, and guidance re- issues of health and preventative medicine and is active when the daily Infant-Parent Centers are closed. AIMS: Examining the PHNCC's suitability for the target population's needs and evaluating its effectiveness in locating situations needing intervention, improving patient experience, and promoting the children's and their parent's health. METHODS: Three sub-studies were conducted: (1) a descriptive study using an initial analysis of 6,000 calls received at the Center, as well as a profound analysis of randomly selected 1,500 calls; (2) a comparative study among 201 parents who had called the Center and 232 parents who had not; and (3) a qualitative study which included interviews with 20 parents who had called the Center and six of the PHNCC nurses. FINDINGS: The PHNCC provides a fast, professional, and accessible response. Caller satisfaction is high, as is that of the Center's nurses. The population of people calling the Center is mainly made up of young parents to first-born children, as well as parents characterized by high levels of parental efficacy perception, social support, and health literacy, as opposed to the population of parents who did not call. There is a direct association between callers’ satisfaction with the PHNCC and their level of trust in the Center nurses. CONCLUSIONS: Both parents and nurses describe an accessible, professional Center and high satisfaction levels. However, the study's findings highlight the need to minimize health-related gaps and make the Center accessible to additional populations, such as parents with lower health literacy. KEY MESSAGES: • Both parents and nurses describe an accessible, professional Center suitable for the target population's needs. • The PHNCC is a service with excellent implementation potential for promoting public health. It should be budgeted accordingly and made accessible to the various populations of Israeli society.