15 research outputs found
Brain-based discourses and early intervention: a critical debate for health visiting
Neuroscientific discourses about early brain development and its plasticity have placed considerable importance upon parenting, emotional nurturing and attachment during the first 1001 âCritical Daysâ. This has informed a policy shift towards early intervention in the early years, and is shaping public health practice in this field particularly health visiting. This paper reviews these developments and outlines a critical debate that has been taking place amongst commentators concerned with how these brain based discourses are being applied in policy. Concerns include the policy readiness of the science, the focus upon parenting quality rather than contextual issues such as poverty, and that these developments are creating a new form of governance of families. In contrast these concerns have not been debated within health visiting raising questions about the professionâs engagement with evidence and policy