Implementation and randomized controlled trial evaluation of universal postnatal nurse home visiting

K.A. Dodge, W.B. Goodman, R.A. Murphy, K. O'Donnell, J. Sato and S. Guptill

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue S1, S136-S143

Abstract: Objectives. We evaluated whether a brief, universal, postnatal nurse home-visiting intervention can be implemented with high penetration and fidelity, prevent emergency health care services, and promote positive parenting by infant age 6 months. Methods. Durham Connects is a manualized 4- to 7-session program to assess family needs and connect parents with community resources to improve infant health and well-being. All 4777 resident births in Durham, North Carolina, between July 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010, were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. A random, representative subset of 549 families received blinded interviews for impact evaluation. Results. Of all families, 80% initiated participation; adherence was 84%. Hospital records indicated that Durham Connects infants had 59% fewer infant emergency medical care episodes than did control infants. Durham Connects mothers reported fewer infant emergency care episodes and more community connections, more positive parenting behaviors, participation in higher quality out-of-home child care, and lower rates of anxiety than control mothers. Blinded observers reported higher quality home environments for Durham Connects than for control families. Conclusions. A brief universal home-visiting program implemented with high penetration and fidelity can lower costly emergency medical care and improve family outcomes.

Keywords: adult; article; child parent relation; controlled clinical trial; controlled study; emergency health service; female; home care; human; infant; infant welfare; male; methodology; postnatal care; program development; program evaluation; questionnaire; randomized controlled trial; utilization review, Adult; Emergency Medical Services; Female; Home Health Nursing; Humans; Infant; Infant Welfare; Male; Parenting; Postnatal Care; Program Development; Program Evaluation; Questionnaires (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301361

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2013.301361_2

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301361

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().