There is often strain placed on families when a child is ill and parents have to work and/or study. 1 This may be particularly important when resources such as extended family, supportive workplace or support from a partner are lacking. In Australia, of 872 900 families with children where both parents worked, 56% had children with an illness requiring absence from care in the previous 6 months. 2 In this study, we conducted focus groups with parents or guardians who had children attending long-day-care centres in order to explore parental attitudes to the health of their children and parent options for care when children are ill. This research contributes to our understanding of this issue in an Australian environment as there is little published research in this area. METHODS Study group The study group consisted of parents or guardians whose children attended a variety of child-care centres in the metro- politan area of Perth, Western Australia. Two trial groups (with the authors’ colleagues from two organizations) were initially conducted to evaluate the questions and approach, followed by 10 focus groups. For the 10 groups, child-care centres were selected to represent both private and community centres in a range of suburbs. Initial contact was with centre co-ordinators, all of whom agreed to assist with the study. Letters describing the study were distributed to parents with an invitation to attend a focus group at a predetermined time. Ethics approval was obtained from the Human Rights Committee of the University of Western Australia and the Human Research Ethics Committee of Curtin University of Technology. The focus groups Focus groups are group discussions designed to yield informa- tion on a particular topic from a selected population 3 where participants are led through a relatively non-directive discus- sion by a moderator to identify the range of concerns and vari- ability of experience. 4 Some researchers describe the strength of such qualitative work as validity. 5,6 After further explanation about the study, participants were asked for their informed consent. Focus groups were conducted by a moderator, who used the predetermined set of questions to explore relevant issues. Transcripts were produced by combining notes by a non-participant note taker with information from audio tapes. Consequent focus groups were held until major themes became recurrent. Participants were also asked about demographic details in a brief written questionnaire. Analysis Transcripts were used to determine themes. 7 Those that were clearly strong themes, either occurring in several groups or raising interest among several participants within one group, were considered major themes. Other important concepts are J. Paediatr. Child Health (2000) 36, 577–580 Parental attitudes to health of children in child-care centres and options when children are ill LM SLACK-SMITH, 1,2,3 AW READ 2,3 and FJ STANLEY 2,3 1 School of Dentistry, 2 Department of Paediatrics, The University of Western Australia, 3 TVW Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, West Perth, Western Australia, Australia Objective: To determine parental attitudes regarding the health of children attending child-care centres, to explore concerns when children who normally attend child care are ill, and to investigate options in these circumstances. Methodology: Focus groups conducted with parents whose children attended child-care centres. Ten focus groups were conducted. Results: Many parents encountered difficulty when children who normally attend child care were ill and there was a lack of options for care. Parents were concerned about the spread of infections among children but considered that there were also many health and other advantages for their children in attending child care. Child-care centres were perceived as providing a valuable support role for families. Conclusions: Many parents lack adequate options for care when their children are ill. Parents’ concerns regarding health in child care are important in policy decisions regarding the health of children in child care, and the development of alterna- tive care services for children. Key words: child-care centres; child day care; child health. Correspondence: Dr Linda Slack-Smith, TVW Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, PO Box 855, West Perth, Western Australia 6872, Australia. Fax: (08) 9221 3829; email: lindas@cyllene.uwa.edu.au LM Slack-Smith, PhD, Senior Lecturer. AW Read, PhD, Senior Research Officer. FJ Stanley, MD, FFPHM, FAFPHM, FRACP, FRACOG, FASSA, Director. Accepted for publication 11 July 2000.