Discussion session
Chairs: Mimi Graham and Isabel Stabile
Despite recent discoveries in early brain development substantiating howbiological and environmental influences interact during the prenatal periodand early infancy to sculpt a child's emotional and physical development,home visiting programs have been challenged in applying these researchfindings in the practical day-to-day efforts to support families. Theeffectiveness of home visiting is under close scrutiny as demonstrated bythe recent issue of The Future of Children: Home Visiting Recent ProgramEvaluations (Spring/Summer 1999).This session will demonstrate the use of a home visiting system as a basisfor achieving program goals. Through a randomized study of 500 high-riskpregnant women, we found a direct correlation between the intensity andcontent of the visits with program outcomes. For example, the more our homevisitors talked about smoking cessation using this structured curriculum,the more their babies weighted at birth. The more times they talked aboutbreastfeeding, the longer the mothers breastfed. Nurses were more effectivethan paraprofessionals in reducing smoking and unplanned second pregnancies.This presentation will demonstrate the value of a home visiting system,using The Partners for A Healthy Baby Curriculum as a basis for integratingcontent with program outcomes. Although many home visiting programs servepregnant women, few curricula exist to guide home visiting during theprenatal and postpartum period. Although many curricula exist for infancy,few, if any, include application of infant mental health and braindevelopment, maternal physical and emotional health, family life goals &self-esteem, or male involvement.Based on curricular needs derived from administering Early Head Start andHealthy Start home visiting programs, the Partners for A Healthy BabyCurriculum was developed by a multidisciplinary team including anobstetrician, nurse, infant/toddler specialist, psychologist, and earlychildhood special educator. The Curriculum supports the home visitor byproviding a planned sequence of essential topics toward achieving a healthpregnancy and baby; integrates program goals into a weekly home visitingguide; addresses issues of the family's development, mother's physical andemotional health, and the baby's health and development; provides colorful,easy-to-read handouts for families and accompanying instructions forvisitors; and offers a documentation system to link education provided onhome visits with participant outcomes. Participants will receive samples from the curricula; learn the elements ofan effective home visiting system; how to integrate program goals duringpregnancy and first year of baby's life; resources to addresses issues ofearly brain development and infant mental health; and a documentationsystem to link education provided on home visits with program outcomescreating a structure for determining quantity and quality of home visits.Discussion will be facilitated by overheads and slides of sample curricularsections to highlight content from both prenatal and postpartum periods. Administrators and supervisors of home visiting programs should findpractical value for enhancing their effectiveness in reaching program goals,providing resources for their visitors and improving overall management. Presenters:As the primary investigator, Dr. Stabile will explain the research designand outcomes of the Panhandle Healthy Start Home Visiting Demonstrationstudy. As the project director, Dr. Graham will present the curricularmaterials.
Details of individual items:
Discussion session