Effectiveness of the Volunteer Family Connect Program in Reducing Isolation of Vulnerable Families and Supporting Their Parenting: Randomized Controlled Trial With Intention-To-Treat Analysis of Primary Outcome Variables

Abstract

BackgroundVolunteer home visiting is a widely adopted community-based approach to support families by linking isolated or vulnerable families with community volunteers who visit their homes weekly over approximately 12 months. This study seeks to robustly evaluate the effectiveness of this model of support for families with young children.ObjectiveThis paper reports the intention-to-treat analysis of primary and secondary outcomes for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Volunteer Family Connect intervention, a volunteer home-visiting program designed to support families with young children who experience social isolation or a lack of parenting confidence and skills.MethodsThe RCT was conducted across seven sites in Australia. Overall, 341 families were recruited: 169 intervention (services as usual+volunteer home visits) and 172 control (services as usual) families. Intervention families received the program for 3-12 months. Participants were invited to complete six data collection points over a 15-month period. Primary outcomes were community connectedness and parenting competence. Secondary outcomes included parent physical and mental health, general parent wellbeing, parent empowerment, the sustainability of family routines, and the parent-child relationship. According to the protocol, the program would be judged to be effective if at least one of the primary outcomes was significantly positive and the other was neutral (ie, intervention families did not demonstrate positive or negative outcomes compared to the control group).ResultsThe intervention group demonstrated significant improvement in the primary outcome variable parenting sense of competence as compared to the control group. Overall, there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups with regard to the primary outcome variable community connectedness, other than on the “Guidance” subscale of the Social Provisions Scale. Because there were statistically significant findings for the total score of one primary outcome variable “parenting sense of competence” and largely neutral findings for the primary outcome variable “community connectedness,” the program met the previously defined criteria for program effectiveness. In relation to secondary outcomes, intervention families reported significantly higher wellbeing and were significantly more likely to feel that life was improving.ConclusionsThe Volunteer Family Connect intervention was considered an effective intervention, with a role to play on the landscape of services available to support vulnerable families with young children.Trial RegistrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12616000396426; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=370304

Which roads lead to depression in Latinas? A network analysis of prenatal depressive symptoms, discrimination, acculturative stress, and low birth weight

“…Social support is a well-established protective factor for mother-hild health in Latinas (Luecken et al, 2013), which may mitigate psychosocial stress by counteracting the social exclusion underlying both discrimination and acculturative stress. Although brief nurse-led psycho-education programs may mitigate postpartum depressive symptoms in the general population (Fisher et al, 2010), vulnerable families may benefit from interventions that explicitly integrate social support, such as community-based volunteer home visiting (Grace et al, 2019). In fact, the company of other women with similar experiences may create a sense of community and belonging (Small et al, 2011).…”

Social Connectedness as a Determinant of Health in African-American Low-Income Families with Young Children: A Cross-Sectional Cohort Study

“…Higher levels of SC have been associated with decreased caregiver stress in families with children aged 7 to 11 years 11 and increased caregiver's sense of confidence and involvement with young children aged 0 to 5 years. 12,13 Social support demonstrated a positive association with child behavioral outcomes. 14,15 Research shows that lower SC of families may increase the risk for child abuse.…”

Association between Social Relationship of Mentors and Depressive Symptoms in First- Time Mothers during the Transition from Pregnancy to 6-Months Postpartum

“…An integrative literature review reported that volunteer social support (or mentorship) programs can improve maternal mental health, parenting skills, parent-child relationships, and social capital (14). There are few evidence-based mentorship programs to support mothers between pregnancy and early parenthood, and most focus on vulnerable populations (e.g., 15,16). Mitchell et al (16), in a qualitative study of Mentoring Mums, a program that bridged the gap between mothers and professional support, conceptualized the role of volunteer mentors as "befriending" (p. 40) and building a network of connections for young mothers at risk for poor parenting.…”

“…Mitchell et al (16), in a qualitative study of Mentoring Mums, a program that bridged the gap between mothers and professional support, conceptualized the role of volunteer mentors as "befriending" (p. 40) and building a network of connections for young mothers at risk for poor parenting. Grace et al (15), in their seven-site randomized controlled trial of the Volunteer Family Mentor program for vulnerable and isolated families, reported a group difference in parenting sense of competence favoring the intervention group, but no group differences on maternal mental health. In a systematic review of the effects of support from the infant's grandparents, Riem et al (17) found that support from maternal grandmothers constituted a protective factor against the development of postnatal mental health problems in the mother.…”