Home Health Visiting in Europe

Abstract

European countries have a long history of providing home health visiting services. These services contrast in many ways with the services of those programs in the United States described by Douglas Powell in this journal issue. Most notably, the European programs are typically universal in that they are offered to all families. In describing the European programs, Sheila Kamerman and Alfred Kahn give special focus to programs in Denmark and Great Britain. Universal home health visiting has been in place in these countries for decades and is widely accepted as a valuable and effective service, although formal research on its effectiveness has been limited. The authors conclude that home health visiting programs have been successful, in part, because these countries have a comprehensive maternal and child health system (both to finance and to deliver services), and home visiting is well integrated into this broader system of care and support for all families.

New results on the effect of maternal work hours on children's overweight status: Does the quality of child care matter?

“…Nonetheless, 50% of all kindergartens have a written food policy, and an analysis of daily food in Danish kindergartens finds that the food children bring is generally nutritionally balanced (Sørensen, 2004). 4 Denmark has one of the most comprehensive health visitor programs (Kamerman and Kahn, 1993). All Danish families are offered 8 visits from the health visitor within each child's first year, and almost all families accept these visits.…”

Health visitors’ assessments of parent–child relationships: A focus group study

“…Health visitors (HVs), also known as public health or child health nurses, provide a nearuniversal community-based service to preschool children and their parents in the United Kingdom (Hewitt et al 1989), Ireland (Butler 2007), the four Scandinavian nations (Ellefsen 2001;Larsson et al 1996;Hakulinen et al 1999;Skovgaard et al 2005), Australia (Briggs & Briggs 2006), New Zealand (Wilson 2001), the Netherlands, France and Italy (Kamerman & Kahn 1993). Home visiting is a key component of services in these countries, but the number of visits and their timing varies between the nations (Kamerman & Kahn 1993): clinic-based immunisation and child health surveillance services provided by nurses are more generally available.…”

“…Home visiting is a key component of services in these countries, but the number of visits and their timing varies between the nations (Kamerman & Kahn 1993): clinic-based immunisation and child health surveillance services provided by nurses are more generally available. In contrast, Germany has a post-neonatal home visiting services provided by social workers and physician-led clinicbased child health services (Kamerman & Kahn 1993;Wendt 1999).…”

“…Home visiting is a key component of services in these countries, but the number of visits and their timing varies between the nations (Kamerman & Kahn 1993): clinic-based immunisation and child health surveillance services provided by nurses are more generally available. In contrast, Germany has a post-neonatal home visiting services provided by social workers and physician-led clinicbased child health services (Kamerman & Kahn 1993;Wendt 1999). Home visitation, often provided by nurses, is also provided to families perceived as vulnerable in many parts of the United States and Canada (Council on Child and Adolescent Health 1998; Drummond et al 2002;Duncan 1992b;Powell 1993).…”

The Role of Home-Visitation Programs in Improving Health Outcomes for Children and Families

“…In England, every prospective mother is visited at home at least once before birth, with six more visits typically occurring before the child is 5 years of age. 2 In the United States, home-visitation services have been perceived by many as too costly and unnecessary for all new families.…”