# Parents’ Experiences with Online Screening Tools in Well-Child Clinics and School Health Services: A Qualitative Study

## TL;DR

This study explores how parents feel about using online tools to screen their child's health and how public health nurses handle the results during check-ups.

## Contribution

The study introduces a qualitative analysis of parents' experiences with online screening tools in well-child visits.

## Key findings

- Parents experienced both ease of use and confusion with the online tools.
- The tools evoked new insights and expectations but also insecurity and vulnerability.
- Addressing parental concerns through dialogue is crucial for maximizing the tools' potential.

## Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the experience of parents who completed online screening tools about their child’s health, development, and well-being, and parents’ experiences with the public health nurse’s handling of this information during a well-child visit for children aged 0 to 7 years. Twenty well-child visits were observed, and 16 parents were interviewed individually or in pairs using a semi-structured interview guide. The parents’ experiences were explored using reflexive thematic analyses of verbatim transcripts and field notes. Five main themes were developed; Experiencing Ease of Use and Confusion, Evoking Novel Insights, Evoking Insecurity and Vulnerability, Evoking New Expectations and lastly, Navigating Expectations, consisting of two sub themes; Harnessing Potentials and Neglecting Potentials. These findings indicate that online screening tools might provide important benefits, provided that parental insecurity and vulnerability are addressed by information and dialogue.