Home visits by paraprofessionals improved maternal mental health and mother-child interaction 2 years after visits ended
Q Two years after completion of a home visiting intervention, do the improvements in maternal and child health expected from paraprofessional (lay visitors/peer support or community workers) home visits emerge? Do the benefits attributed to home visits from professional nurses endure?
METHODS
Design:
randomised controlled trial.
Allocation:
concealed.
Blinding:
blinded (data collectors).
Follow up period:
2 years of intervention followed up by a 2 year observational period.
Setting:
Denver, Colorado, USA.
Participants:
735 pregnant women (mean age 20 y) who had no previous live births and either qualified for Medicaid or had no health insurance.
Intervention:
Prenatal and postpartum paraprofessional home visits (PHV) (n = 245), nurse home visits (NHV) (n = 235), or a control condition (n = 255) until the child was 2 years of age. All participants received developmental screening and referral services for their children. The objectives of the home visitation programmes delivered by paraprofessionals and nurses included helping women to improve health related behaviours during pregnancy …
