This literature review was conducted at the beginning of the Community Partnerships project. The project provides the opportunity for communities to take up the challenge of exploring new and more effective ways of working with young children and their families.

Child development is a complex, non-linear process affected by multiple factors. In addition, there is a large degree of individual variation.

At its most fundamental, loss is the experience of disruption or separation from people, places, animals, possessions, dreams or expectations. For a child a loss may be based on safety, comfort and familiarity, rather than what adults speak of as love or affection.

The prevalence of asthma is increasing in western countries. Over two million Australians suffer with asthma, and one in every four to five children will have some asthma symptoms at some stage.

Health promotion has long been accepted as a mainstay of nursing practice, and indeed many community child health nurses would cite health promotion as a major activity in their daily work. However, there is a lack of clarity in the nursing literature regarding the concepts and activities of health promotion and studies on nurses‚ understanding...