Abstract
Intervention strategies are needed to improve maternal and infant outcomes in minority populations living in poverty. Home
visiting by nurses has improved outcomes for mothers and young children, but use of professional staff makes these programs
expensive. Pride in Parenting was a randomized controlled trial of paraprofessional home visitation to provide health and
developmental intervention for high-risk African American mothers in Washington, DC. This study proposed to test whether paraprofessional
visitors drawn from the community could effectively influence health and mothers’ parenting behaviors and attitudes. African
American mothers with inadequate prenatal care were recruited at delivery and randomized to intervention or usual care groups.
The intervention curriculum was delivered through both home visitation and parent-infant groups for 1 year. The intervention
curriculum was designed to improve knowledge, influence attitudes, and promote life skills that would assist low-income mothers
in offering better health oversight and development for their infants. Both intervention and usual care groups received monthly
social work contact over the one-year study period to provide referrals for identified needs. The intervention participants
improved their home environments, a characteristic important for promoting good child development. Mothers’ perceptions of
available social support improved and child-rearing attitudes associated with child maltreatment were reduced. Paraprofessional
home visitors can be successful in improving the child-rearing environments and parenting attitudes for infants at risk, perhaps
offering a less costly option to professional home visitors.
visiting by nurses has improved outcomes for mothers and young children, but use of professional staff makes these programs
expensive. Pride in Parenting was a randomized controlled trial of paraprofessional home visitation to provide health and
developmental intervention for high-risk African American mothers in Washington, DC. This study proposed to test whether paraprofessional
visitors drawn from the community could effectively influence health and mothers’ parenting behaviors and attitudes. African
American mothers with inadequate prenatal care were recruited at delivery and randomized to intervention or usual care groups.
The intervention curriculum was delivered through both home visitation and parent-infant groups for 1 year. The intervention
curriculum was designed to improve knowledge, influence attitudes, and promote life skills that would assist low-income mothers
in offering better health oversight and development for their infants. Both intervention and usual care groups received monthly
social work contact over the one-year study period to provide referrals for identified needs. The intervention participants
improved their home environments, a characteristic important for promoting good child development. Mothers’ perceptions of
available social support improved and child-rearing attitudes associated with child maltreatment were reduced. Paraprofessional
home visitors can be successful in improving the child-rearing environments and parenting attitudes for infants at risk, perhaps
offering a less costly option to professional home visitors.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-10
- DOI 10.1007/s10995-011-0858-x
- Authors
- Kathy S. Katz, Georgetown University Medical Center, 2115 Wisconsin AVE NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20007, USA
- Marian H. Jarrett, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University, 2134 G ST NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA
- Ayman A. E. El-Mohandes, College of Public Health, WH 5030, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
- Susan Schneider, 5609 Lamar DR, Bethesda, MD 20816, USA
- Doris McNeely-Johnson, Department of Psychology, Building 44, Room 200-38, University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut AVE NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA
- Michele Kiely, DESPR/NICHD/NIH, 6100 Executive BLVD, Room 7B05, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
- Journal Maternal and Child Health Journal
- Online ISSN 1573-6628
- Print ISSN 1092-7875