Lay summary
Current estimates identify 630 children in New Zealand who are tube fed for nutrition, with the highest number in the Counties Manukau area. Prolonged tube feeding has many negative consequences including medical complications, social exclusion, increased parental stress, and high healthcare costs.
This placement research activity will extend previous New Zealand studies showing the effectiveness of a home-based behavioural intervention to transition children from tube to oral feeding. The majority of children who have accessed this intervention have ceased tube feeding. This research activity will examine equity to accessing the intervention, by interviewing family/whānau, health professionals, and Māori cultural advisors. Doing so will identify the current barriers to intervention, and will result in health professional training opportunities and redesign of family/whānau information. This research activity aims to improve equity by making the intervention accessible to all children who meet eligibility criteria.