Promise and Limitations of Home Visitation

Home Visiting and the Health of Preterm Infants

“…44,45,46 Some have suggested that universal home visitation is unlikely to yield observable benefits for families and their children, and that home visitation might work best as a service for selected families and children. 47 Our results suggest that low-birth-weight preterm children, particularly those who are discharged to socially vulnerable families, might be an appropriate selected group to receive home visits. Much is spent on these infants to keep them alive in the NICU, and it would appear to be a wise investment to support home visiting to attempt to optimize the health and well-being of these infants after discharge from the NICU.…”

<br/> IMPACTO DA VISITA DOMICILIÁRIA DE ENFERMAGEM AO RECÉM-NASCIDO/LACTENTE /FAMÍLIA: UMA REVISÃO SISTEMÁTICA DA LITERATURA

“…Ao concentrar-se nas famílias mais ameaçadas, os programas de VD, procuram diminuir as disparidades na saúde e os resultados do desenvolvimento. Os estudos indicam que os grupos de alto risco, são mais propensos a beneficiar da VD (16) .…”

The Effects of Early Prevention Programs for Families with Young Children at Risk for Physical Child Abuse and Neglect: A Meta-Analysis

“…5 In addition, the effect sizes were calculated and aggregated for different types of intervention, including home visitation services, in-hospital rooming-in, and centerbased group services (see also Table 2). Moreover, all but four studies (Haigh, Lealman, Ord-Smith, Philips, & Stone, 1983;Dubois et al, 1991;Feldman et al, 1992;Armstrond, Dadds, Fraser, & Morris, 1999/ 2000 were performed in the United States. Nevertheless, the studies were performed in geographically and demographically different regions (e.g., large cities, islands).…”

“…To find out what makes programs successful, a distinction has to be made between key formal or organizational elements (e.g., use of home visits vs. group sessions, start and length of intervention, use of nonprofessionals) and key content elements or ingredients (e.g., changing negative perceptions of the parent, enhancing parenting skills, improving material of social conditions). Many studies focused on key formal elements (Cohn-Donnelly, 1997;Daro, 1988b;Gomby, 2000;Guterman, 1997;MacLeod & Nelson, 2000;Olds, Hill, Robinson, Song, & Little, 2000;Packard Foundation, 1999). Concerning the key content elements, more research is needed.…”