Promotion of Positive Parenting in Primary Health Care Settings: Training of Professionals

Aim: To understand the impact of a brief training focused on positive parenting strategies and behavior management of pre-school children. Method: 152 professionals (e.g., nurses, doctors, psychologists) from primary health care units (PHCU) in the district of Coimbra have participated in a nine-hour training course. The level of satisfaction with the training, the strategies recommended to parents before and three months after the training and the perceived need for additional training were assessed through three Self-Reflection Inventories and a Satisfaction Assessment Sheet. Results: There were high levels of adherence to training and satisfaction with its content and teaching/learning strategies. After the training, professionals reported having more frequently recommended positive parenting strategies to parents and mentioned the urge of additional training. Conclusion: Training professionals from PHCU could contribute to filling an important gap in mental health literacy, enabling these first-line professionals to provide a higher quality and evidence-based response to questions raised by parents regarding the management of their children's behavior.