Parents' Perspectives: An Evaluation of Case Management Interventions in Home Visiting Programs for Young Children

The good, the bad, and the ambivalent: Quality of alliance in a support program for young mothers

“…Alliance measures in reports such as this, however, show limited variability, with high ratings typically given either by the visitor or by the parent. Mothers in Allen's (2007a) study tended to report liking their provider at very high levels, and this restricted range likely attenuated the associations with the other program variables.…”

“…Allen (2007a), for example, noted that the visitorparent relationship was the strongest predictor of intensity of casemanagement services in a program for mothers of at-risk infants and toddlers. Alliance measures in reports such as this, however, show limited variability, with high ratings typically given either by the visitor or by the parent.…”

“…Other investigators have examined the helping relationship in at-risk samples of families participating in prevention or family support programs, attempting to uncover common themes across interviews or focus groups. Allen (2007b) used semistructured interviews with the same sample of mothers reported previously (Allen 2007a) to confirm the importance of the relationship with their home visitor. These findings have suggested that mothers appreciate visitors who show care and personal concern for them, and who bring comfort and enjoyment to their time together.…”

Learning to trust in home visiting: Mothers' perspective

“…Relationship development can be facilitated by the intimate and informal nature of the home visit (Riley et al, 2005). Mothers have often viewed the home visiting services they received within the context of their relationship with the home visitor, not the specific program (Woolfolk & Unger, 2009) and the relationship has been shown to predict the intensity of interventions used with mothers more than the amount of contact a home visitor has had with a mother or even the level of family need (Allen, 2007a). It is through close relationships with the family that home visitors can model empathy, trust, and caring with the mother.…”

“…Jack and colleagues (2005) noted that in order to have a complete understanding of the home visiting process researchers need to look beyond the perspectives of those conducting the home visits. The predominated focus on quantitative research lacks any in-depth perspectives of families (Allen, 2007a). McGuigan et al (2003) found that home visitors' scores on assessments such as perspective taking and empathy were not related to program retention and suggested a family's view of a home visitor may be an important avenue of study.…”