Beyond the Stethoscope: Humanising Child Health Through Qualitative Inquiry (A Translational Method Review)

Abstract

Child survival remains a major priority in Nigeria and other low- and middle-income countries, yet proven interventions do not always translate into consistent uptake or better outcomes. Quantitative research is indispensable for describing burden, risk, and trends. Still, it often cannot explain why caregivers delay care, why adolescents disengage, or why technically sound services fail in everyday practice. This narrative review examines qualitative inquiry as a practical scientific method for addressing those gaps in paediatric care and programme delivery. A reproducible narrative review approach was used, with targeted searches of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar, supplemented by citation tracking of key methodological and implementation sources. Sources were purposively selected and synthesised around four questions: what qualitative inquiry contributes to translational child health; which methods are feasible for clinicians and trainees; how rigour and ethics should be handled; and how findings can inform service redesign. The review shows that qualitative inquiry strengthens paediatric practice by clarifying acceptability, feasibility, trust, hidden costs, and workflow realities across child, facility, and policy levels. It provides clinician-facing guidance on interviews, focus group discussions, observation, sampling, analysis, trustworthiness, and safeguarding, and demonstrates how qualitative findings can be translated into practical redesign actions. Qualitative inquiry should be treated as a core method in paediatric implementation and training, not as an informal add-on.