Dataset Information

Improving children's health and development in British Columbia through nurse home visiting: a randomized controlled trial protocol.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Nurse-Family Partnership is a nurse home visitation program that aims to improve the lives of young mothers and their children. The program focuses on women who are parenting for the first time and experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Nurse visits start as early in pregnancy as possible and continue until the child reaches age two years. The program has proven effective in the United States - improving children's mental health and development and maternal wellbeing, and showing long-term cost-effectiveness. But it is not known whether the same benefits will be obtained in Canada, where public services differ. The British Columbia Healthy Connections Project therefore involves a randomized controlled trial evaluating Nurse-Family Partnership's effectiveness compared with existing (usual) services in improving children's mental health and early development and mother's life circumstances. The trial's main aims are to: reduce childhood injuries by age two years (primary outcome indicator); reduce prenatal nicotine and alcohol use; improve child cognitive and language development and behaviour at age two years; and reduce subsequent pregnancies by 24 months postpartum. Potential explanatory factors such as maternal mental health (including self-efficacy) are also being assessed, as is the program's impact on exposure to intimate-partner violence. To inform future economic evaluation, data are also being collected on health and social service access and use. METHODS/DESIGN:Eligible and consenting participants (N?=?1040) are being recruited prior to 28 weeks gestation then individually randomized to receive existing services (comparison group) or Nurse-Family Partnership plus existing services (intervention group). Nurse-Family Partnership is being delivered following fidelity guidelines. Data are being collected during in person and telephone interviews at: baseline; 34-36 weeks gestation; and two, 10, 18 and 24 months postpartum. Additional data will be obtained via linkages from provincial datasets. Recruitment commenced in October 2013 and will continue for approximately three years. DISCUSSION:This trial will provide important information about the generalizability of Nurse-Family Partnership to the Canadian context. Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and shared with policymakers and practitioners through extensive public health collaborations already underway. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Registered July 18, 2013 with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01672060 .

SUBMITTER: Catherine NL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4972973 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Improving children's health and development in British Columbia through nurse home visiting: a randomized controlled trial protocol.

Catherine Nicole L A NL Gonzalez Andrea A Boyle Michael M Sheehan Debbie D Jack Susan M SM Hougham Kaitlyn A KA McCandless Lawrence L MacMillan Harriet L HL Waddell Charlotte C

BMC health services research 20160804 a

<h4>Background</h4>Nurse-Family Partnership is a nurse home visitation program that aims to improve the lives of young mothers and their children. The program focuses on women who are parenting for the first time and experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Nurse visits start as early in pregnancy as possible and continue until the child reaches age two years. The program has proven effective in the United States - improving children's mental health and development and maternal wellbeing, and sh ...[more]

PMID: 27488474

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundNurse-Family Partnership (NFP) involves public health nurses providing frequent home visits from early pregnancy until children reach age 2 years, focusing on first-time parents experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Our aim was to evaluate NFP's effectiveness in improving child and maternal health.MethodsWe conducted an analysis of prenatal secondary outcomes in an ongoing randomized controlled trial in British Columbia; the data used in this analysis were collected from January 2014 to May 2017. Participants were pregnant girls and women aged 14-24 years who were preparing to parent for the first time and experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. They were randomly allocated 1:1 to the intervention (NFP plus existing services) or control group (existing services). Prespecified prenatal secondary outcome indicators were changes in use of nicotine cigarettes and alcohol use by 34-36-weeks' gestation. We also report on prespecified exploratory cannabis and street drug use measures. We used mixed-effect models for longitudinal and clustered data to estimate intervention effects. Analyses were by intention to treat.ResultsThe median gestational age at baseline for the 739 participants (368 participants in the intervention group, 371 in the comparison group) was 20 weeks, 6 days. By 34-36 weeks' gestation, NFP significantly reduced cigarette counts (over the past 2 d) (difference in changes [DIC] of count -1.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] -6.4 to -1.3) in those who smoked. NFP also significantly reduced rates of prenatal cannabis use (DIC -6.4, 95% CI -17.0 to -1.7), but not rates of street drug or "any" substance use. While we observed decreased rates of cigarette and alcohol use in both groups (DIC of proportions -2.8, 95% CI -15.3 to 0.6; DIC -0.5, 95% CI -8.7 to 1.8, respectively), these changes were not statistically significant.InterpretationWe found no evidence that NFP was effective in reducing rates of prenatal cigarette and alcohol use; however, it led to reduced prenatal cannabis use, and in smokers it led to modest reductions in cigarette use. NFP may therefore hold promise for reducing some types of prenatal substance use in disadvantaged populations. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, no. NCT01672060.

Project description:To test the efficacy of a nurse home visiting program (HVP) on child development, maternal and environmental outcomes in the first years of life. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of Primeiros Laços, a nurse HVP for adolescent mothers living in a poor urban area of São Paulo, Brazil. Eighty adolescent mothers were included and randomized to receive either Primeiros Laços (intervention group, n = 40) or healthcare as usual (control group, n = 40). Primeiros Laços is a home visiting intervention delivered by trained nurses that starts during the first 16 weeks of pregnancy and continues to the child's age of 24 months. Participants were assessed by blind interviewers at 8-16 weeks of pregnancy (baseline), 30 weeks of pregnancy, and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months of child's age. We assessed oscillatory power in the mid-range alpha frequency via electroencephalography when the children were aged 6 months. Child development was measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development Third Edition (BSID-III). Weight and length were measured by trained professionals and anthropometric indexes were calculated. The home environment and maternal interaction with the child was measured by the Home Observation and Measurement of the Environment. Generalized estimating equation models were used to examine intervention effects on the trajectories of outcomes. Standardized effect sizes (Cohen's d) were calculated using marginal means from endpoint assessments of all outcomes. The trial was registered at clinicaltrial.gov: NCT02807818. Our analyses showed significant positive effects of the intervention on child expressive language development (coefficient = 0.89, 95% CI [0.18, 1.61], p = 0.014), maternal emotional/verbal responsivity (coefficient = 0.97, 95% CI [0.37, 1.58], p = 0.002), and opportunities for variety in daily stimulation (coefficient = 0.37, 95% CI [0.09, 0.66], p = 0.009). Standardized effect sizes of the intervention were small to moderate. Primeiros Laços is a promising intervention to promote child development and to improve the home environment of low-income adolescent mothers. However, considering the limitations of our study, future studies should be conducted to assess Primeiros Laços potential to benefit this population.Clinical Trial Registration: The study was registered at clinicaltrial.gov (Registration date: 21/06/2016 and Registration number: NCT02807818).

Project description:Background:Pregnant girls/young women and new mothers living in situations of social and economic disadvantage are at increased risk for poor health. Rural living may compound marginalization and create additional challenges for young mothers. Public health nurses (PHNs) delivering the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) to mothers living in rural communities may help to improve maternal and child health outcomes. The purpose of this analysis, grounded in data collected as part of a broader process evaluation, was to explore and understand the influence of rural geography on the delivery of NFP in British Columbia, Canada. Methods:For the analysis of this qualitative data, principles of inductive reasoning based on the methodology of interpretive description were applied. A total of 10 PHNs and 11 supervisors providing the NFP program in rural communities were interviewed. Results:The results of this analysis reflect the factors and challenges of providing the NFP program in rural communities. PHNs noted the importance of NFP in the lives of their rural clients, especially in the face of extreme financial and social disparity. Remaining flexible in their approach to rural nursing and protecting time to complete NFP work supported nurses practicing in rural environments. Rural PHNs were often the sole NFP nurse in their office and struggled to remain connected to their supervisors and other NFP colleagues. Challenges were compounded by the realities of rural geography, such as poor weather, reduced accessibility, and long travel distances; however, these were considered normal occurrences of rural practice by nurses. Conclusions:PHNs and NFP supervisors are well-positioned to identify the modifications that are required to support the delivery of NFP in rural geography. NFP nurses need to articulate what classifies as rural in order to effectively determine how to best provide services to these populations. Environmental conditions must be considered when offering NFP in rural communities, particularly if they impact the time required to deliver the program and additional services offered to young mothers. Regular NFP meetings and education opportunities address common problems associated with rural nursing but could be enhanced by better use of technology.

Project description:BackgroundPolicy-makers are increasingly seeking rigorous evidence on the impact of programs that go beyond typical health care settings to improve outcomes for low-income families during the critical period around the transition to parenthood and through early childhood.MethodsThis study is a randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of the Nurse-Family Partnership's expansion in South Carolina. The scientific trial was made possible by a "Pay for Success" program embedded within a 1915(b) Waiver from Medicaid secured by the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. This protocol describes study procedures and defines primary and secondary health-related outcomes that can be observed during the intervention period (including pregnancy through the child's first 2 years of life). Primary study outcomes include (1) a composite indicator for adverse birth outcomes including being born small for gestational age, low birth weight (less than 2500 g), preterm birth (less than 37 weeks' gestation), or perinatal mortality (fetal death at or after 20 weeks of gestation or mortality in the first 7 days of life), (2) a composite outcome indicating health care utilization or mortality associated with major injury or concern for abuse or neglect occurring during the child's first 24 months of life, and (3) an indicator for an inter-birth interval of < 21 months. Secondary outcomes are defined similarly in three domains: (1) improving pregnancy and birth outcomes, (2) improving child health and development, and (3) altering the maternal life course through changes in family planning.DiscussionEvidence from this trial on the impact of home visiting services delivered at scale as part of a Medicaid benefit can provide policy-makers and stakeholders with crucial information about the effectiveness of home visiting programs in improving health and well-being for low-income mothers and children and about novel financing mechanisms for cross-silo interventions.Trial registrationThe trial was registered prospectively on the American Economic Association Trial Registry (the primary registry for academic economists doing policy trials) on 16 February 2016 ( AEARCTR-0001039 ). ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03360539 . Registered on 28 November 2017.

Project description:Background: Early childhood is a key period for reducing the social inequalities that affect health. Some parenting support and home visitation programs have proven to be effective in assisting parents during this period. France's Protection Maternelle et Infantile (maternal and child welfare) services (PMIs) are at the heart of this primary prevention and may adapt their intervention to improve parenting support. In this manuscript, we describe the protocol of the PERL study, an intervention based on a home visiting program. Method and design: The PERL study is a single-center, randomized, controlled interventional trial. The aim was to assess the impact of a preventive home visiting program on the development of young children and parent-baby interaction. Visits were made by PMI nurses to 64 randomly recruited families from the general population. All families who had a baby born after 37 weeks of pregnancy between September 2018 and December 2019, and who resided in the trial area were eligible. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention group or the control group. The PMI nurses made 12 home visits in the first year, 6 in the second year, and 4 in the third and fourth years of the child's life. Primary and secondary outcomes were measured when the child was 4 and 24 months old. These measurements recorded (i) the child's developmental milestones, in particular, language and socio emotional skills, (ii) early interaction, maternal sensitivity, and attachment patterns, (iii) maternal psychopathology including depression. Discussion: This study aims to assess the impact of home visits, made by specifically-trained and supervised nurses, on the child's development and parent-child interactions. Such interventions are complementary to other preventive programs addressing the impact of social inequalities on perinatal health. Placing nurses' professional skills at the center of this project may prove an effective and cost-saving intervention compared to existing programs. The study proposes a prevention model that is in keeping with the principle of reducing social inequalities in health by providing support from the earliest age through public service. Clinical Trial Registration: The clinical trial number is NCT03506971, registered on April 24, 2018.

Dataset Information

Improving children's health and development in British Columbia through nurse home visiting: a randomized controlled trial protocol.

Publications

Improving children's health and development in British Columbia through nurse home visiting: a randomized controlled trial protocol.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets