INSPIRE - Improving Knowledge and Support for Parents of Infants for Routine and Emergency Health Care

This research centres on parent(s) as active health caregivers and the link between both their agency and emotional well-being and the health outcomes of their infant children. While all parental health care practices are of interest, incidences of fever become the particular focus for this research in order to explore how parents experience caring for the health of their child - this is because, firstly, caring for infants with a fever represents a stressful and challenging situation for carers, and therefore a revealing site for understanding how health care practices, lack of timely and appropriate advice, support and decision-making can affect parental mental health and well-being. Secondly, fever remains a pressing health issue for children and for service delivery in Liverpool, the UK and globally. Focusing on the everyday social practices of health care, and caring around fever during the first two years of life, this research - a longitudinal study with parents of babies aged 2 months to 2 years living in Liverpool - aims to understand how parents and wider social networks are involved in the routine care of infants, and to inform the following interrelated research questions:

How does the process of becoming a carer for a child's health affect the mental and physical health of parents?
How do parents learn to care for the health of their children and what sources of advice and support do parents need/access in terms of routine health care and for specific cases of fever and why?
What factors influence parental decision-making in seeking advice and support in caring for their child with fever