Effect of an Intensive Nurse Home Visiting Program on Adverse Birth Outcomes in a Medicaid-Eligible Population: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Improving birth outcomes for low-income mothers is a public health priority. Intensive nurse home visiting has been proposed as an intervention to improve these outcomes. Objective: To determine the effect of an intensive nurse home visiting program on a composite outcome of preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age, or perinatal mortality. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a randomized clinical trial that included 5670 Medicaid-eligible, nulliparous pregnant individuals at less than 28 weeks' gestation, enrolled between April 1, 2016, and March 17, 2020, with follow-up through February 2021. Interventions: Participants were randomized 2:1 to Nurse Family Partnership program (n = 3806) or control (n = 1864). The program is an established model of nurse home visiting; regular visits begin prenatally and continue through 2 postnatal years. Nurses provide education, assessments, and goal-setting related to prenatal health, child health and development, and maternal life course. The control group received usual care services and a list of community resources. Neither staff nor participants were blinded to intervention group. Main Outcomes and Measures: There were 3 primary outcomes. This article reports on a composite of adverse birth outcomes: preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age, or perinatal mortality based on vital records, Medicaid claims, and hospital discharge records through February 2021. The other primary outcomes of interbirth intervals of less than 21 months and major injury or concern for abuse or neglect in the child's first 24 months have not yet completed measurement. There were 54 secondary outcomes; those related to maternal and newborn health that have completed measurement included all elements of the composite plus birth weight, gestational length, large for gestational age, extremely preterm, very low birth weight, overnight neonatal intensive care unit admission, severe maternal morbidity, and cesarean delivery. Results: Among 5670 participants enrolled, 4966 (3319 intervention; 1647 control) were analyzed for the primary maternal and neonatal health outcome (median age, 21 years [1.2% non-Hispanic Asian, Indigenous, or Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander; 5.7% Hispanic; 55.2% non-Hispanic Black; 34.8% non-Hispanic White; and 3.0% more than 1 race reported [non-Hispanic]). The incidence of the composite adverse birth outcome was 26.9% in the intervention group and 26.1% in the control group (adjusted between-group difference, 0.5% [95% CI, -2.1% to 3.1%]). Outcomes for the intervention group were not significantly better for any of the maternal and newborn health primary or secondary outcomes in the overall sample or in either of the prespecified subgroups. Conclusions and Relevance: In this South Carolina-based trial of Medicaid-eligible pregnant individuals, assignment to participate in an intensive nurse home visiting program did not significantly reduce the incidence of a composite of adverse birth outcomes. Evaluation of the overall effectiveness of this program is incomplete, pending assessment of early childhood and birth spacing outcomes. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03360539.

Schedules for home visits in the early postpartum period.

BACKGROUND: Maternal complications, including psychological/mental health problems and neonatal morbidity, have commonly been observed in the postpartum period. Home visits by health professionals or lay supporters in the weeks following birth may prevent health problems from becoming chronic, with long-term effects. This is an update of a review last published in 2017. OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this review is to assess the effects of different home-visiting schedules on maternal and newborn mortality during the early postpartum period. The review focuses on the frequency of home visits (how many home visits in total), the timing (when visits started, e.g. within 48 hours of the birth), duration (when visits ended), intensity (how many visits per week), and different types of home-visiting interventions. SEARCH METHODS: For this update, we searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (19 May 2021), and checked reference lists of retrieved studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (including cluster-, quasi-RCTs and studies available only as abstracts) comparing different home-visiting interventions that enrolled participants in the early postpartum period (up to 42 days after birth) were eligible for inclusion. We excluded studies in which women were enrolled and received an intervention during the antenatal period (even if the intervention continued into the postnatal period), and studies recruiting only women from specific high-risk groups (e.g. women with alcohol or drug problems). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion and risk of bias, extracted data and checked them for accuracy. We used the GRADE approach to assess the certainty of the evidence. MAIN RESULTS: We included 16 randomised trials with data for 12,080 women. The trials were carried out in countries across the world, in both high- and low-resource settings. In low-resource settings, women receiving usual care may have received no additional postnatal care after early hospital discharge. The interventions and controls varied considerably across studies. Trials focused on three broad types of comparisons, as detailed below. In all but four of the included studies, postnatal care at home was delivered by healthcare professionals. The aim of all interventions was broadly to assess the well-being of mothers and babies, and to provide education and support. However, some interventions had more specific aims, such as to encourage breastfeeding, or to provide practical support. For most of our outcomes, only one or two studies provided data, and results were inconsistent overall. All studies had several domains with high or unclear risk of bias. More versus fewer home visits (five studies, 2102 women) The evidence is very uncertain about whether home visits have any effect on maternal and neonatal mortality (very low-certainty evidence). Mean postnatal depression scores as measured with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) may be slightly higher (worse) with more home visits, though the difference in scores was not clinically meaningful (mean difference (MD) 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25 to 1.79; two studies, 767 women; low-certainty evidence). Two separate analyses indicated conflicting results for maternal satisfaction (both low-certainty evidence); one indicated that there may be benefit with fewer visits, though the 95% CI just crossed the line of no effect (risk ratio (RR) 0.96, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.02; two studies, 862 women). However, in another study, the additional support provided by health visitors was associated with increased mean satisfaction scores (MD 14.70, 95% CI 8.43 to 20.97; one study, 280 women; low-certainty evidence). Infant healthcare utilisation may be decreased with more home visits (RR 0.48, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.64; four studies, 1365 infants) and exclusive breastfeeding at six weeks may be increased (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.36; three studies, 960 women; low-certainty evidence). Serious neonatal morbidity up to six months was not reported in any trial. Different models of postnatal care (three studies, 4394 women) In a cluster-RCT comparing usual care with individualised care by midwives, extended up to three months after the birth, there may be little or no difference in neonatal mortality (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.12; one study, 696 infants). The proportion of women with EPDS scores ≥ 13 at four months is probably reduced with individualised care (RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.86; one study, 1295 women). One study suggests there may be little to no difference between home visits and telephone screening in neonatal morbidity up to 28 days (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.12; one study, 696 women). In a different study, there was no difference between breastfeeding promotion and routine visits in exclusive breastfeeding rates at six months (RR 1.47, 95% CI 0.81 to 2.69; one study, 656 women). Home versus facility-based postnatal care (eight studies, 5179 women) The evidence suggests there may be little to no difference in postnatal depression rates at 42 days postpartum and also as measured on an EPDS scale at 60 days. Maternal satisfaction with postnatal care may be better with home visits (RR 1.36, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.62; three studies, 2368 women). There may be little to no difference in infant emergency health care visits or infant hospital readmissions (RR 1.15, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.38; three studies, 3257 women) or in exclusive breastfeeding at two weeks (RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.18; 1 study, 513 women). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of home visits on maternal and neonatal mortality. Individualised care as part of a package of home visits probably improves depression scores at four months and increasing the frequency of home visits may improve exclusive breastfeeding rates and infant healthcare utilisation. Maternal satisfaction may also be better with home visits compared to hospital check-ups. Overall, the certainty of evidence was found to be low and findings were not consistent among studies and comparisons. Further well designed RCTs evaluating this complex intervention will be required to formulate the optimal package.

Maternal Experiences of Racial Discrimination, Child Indicators of Toxic Stress, and the Minding the Baby Early Home Visiting Intervention.

BACKGROUND: Racism is a significant source of toxic stress and a root cause of health inequities. Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to vicarious racism (i.e., racism experienced by a caregiver) is associated with poor child health and development, but associations with biological indicators of toxic stress have not been well studied. It is also unknown whether two-generation interventions, such as early home visiting programs, may help to mitigate the harmful effects of vicarious racism. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine associations between maternal experiences of racial discrimination and child indicators of toxic stress and to test whether relationships are moderated by prior participation in Minding the Baby (MTB), an attachment-based early home visiting intervention. METHODS: Ninety-seven maternal-child dyads (n = 43 intervention dyads, n = 54 control dyads) enrolled in the MTB Early School Age follow-up study. Mothers reported on racial discrimination using the Experiences of Discrimination Scale. Child indicators of toxic stress included salivary biomarkers of inflammation (e.g., C-reactive protein, panel of pro-inflammatory cytokines), body mass index, and maternally reported child behavioral problems. We used linear regression to examine associations between maternal experiences of racial discrimination and child indicators of toxic stress and included an interaction term between experiences of discrimination and MTB group assignment (intervention vs. control) to test moderating effects of the MTB intervention. RESULTS: Mothers identified as Black/African American (33%) and Hispanic/Latina (64%). In adjusted models, maternal experiences of racial discrimination were associated with elevated salivary interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α levels in children, but not child body mass index or behavior. Prior participation in the MTB intervention moderated the relationship between maternal experiences of discrimination and child interleukin-6 levels. DISCUSSION: Results of this study suggest that racism may contribute to the biological embedding of early adversity through influences on inflammation, but additional research with serum markers is needed to better understand this relationship. Improved understanding of the relationships among vicarious racism, protective factors, and childhood toxic stress is necessary to inform family and systemic-level intervention.

The Practice of Home Visiting by Community Health Nurses as a Primary Healthcare Intervention in a Low-Income Rural Setting: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study in the Adaklu District of the Volta Region, Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Home visit is an integral component of Ghana's PHC delivery system. It is preventive and promotes health practice where health professionals render care to clients in their own environment and provide appropriate healthcare needs and social support services. This study describes the home visit practices in a rural district in the Volta Region of Ghana. Methodology. This descriptive cross-sectional study used 375 households and 11 community health nurses in the Adaklu district. Multistage sampling techniques were used to select 10 communities and study respondents using probability sampling methods. A pretested self-designed questionnaire and an interview guide for household members and community health nurses, respectively, were used for data collection. Quantitative data collected were coded, cleaned, and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences into descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analysed using the NVivo software. Thematic analysis was engaged that embraces three interrelated stages, namely, data reduction, data display, and data conclusion. RESULTS: Home visit is a routine responsibility of all CHNs. The factors that influence home visiting were community members' education and attitude, supervision challenges, lack of incentives and lack of basic logistics, uncooperative attitude, community inaccessibility, financial constraint, and limited number of staff. Household members (62.3%) indicated that health workers did not adequately attend to minor ailments as 78% benefited from the service and wished more activities could be added to the home visiting package (24.5%). CONCLUSION: There should be tailored training of CHNs on home visits skills so that they could expand the scope of services that can be provided. Also, community-based health workers such as community health volunteers, traditional birth attendants, and community clinic attendants can also be trained to identify and address health problems in the homes.

Atención en domicilio de pacientes NANEAS: experiencia del hospital de niños Dr. Roberto del Río / Home care of NANEAS patients: experience of the children's hospital Dr. Roberto del Río

El avance de las tecnologías de soporte vital ha aumentado la sobrevida de niños con patologías y secuelas graves, categorizados como NANEAS (Niños y Adolescentes con Necesidades Especiales de Atención en Salud) de mediana y alta complejidad. En el Hospital de Niños Dr. Roberto del Río se organizó un equipo de atención para NANEAS en 2014, que realiza visitas domiciliarias desde 2015 a pacientes médicamente complejos. OBJETIVO: Caracterizar la población atendida en domicilio y la modalidad de atención. PACIENTES Y MÉTODO: Estudio retrospectivo descriptivo mediante revisión de registro clínico electrónico y ficha clínica de NANEAS atendidos en domicilio del 2015 al 2018. RESULTADOS: Se analizaron 581 visitas a 81 pacientes, mediana 8 años, 78% hombres, 64% institucionalizados, 78% con patología neurológica de base, 75% de alta y mediana complejidad según clasificación SOCHIPE. De las visitas, 71% fue en comunas rurales, la mediana de tiempo de viaje 60 minutos y de atención 26 minutos. Un 60% de las visitas se realizó a pacientes con dispositivos médicos. En un 99% asistió pediatra, 33% enfermera y 68% otro profesional, que en 61% correspondió al neuropediatra. CONCLUSIONES: La mayor proporción de pacientes atendidos son de alta y mediana complejidad, usuarios de dispositivos médicos y la mayoría con patología neurológica de base, por lo que resulta fundamental contar con un neurólogo en el equipo interdisciplinario. Las visitas se realizan principalmente a comunas distantes por la dificultad de traslado de estos pacientes. Esta modalidad de atención promueve una mejor calidad de vida para niños y niñas médicamente complejos y para sus familias.

The advancement of life support technologies has increased the survival of children with serious pathologies and sequelae, categorized as NANEAS (Children and Adolescents with Special Health Care Needs) of medium and high complexity. At the Hospital de Niños Dr. Roberto del Río, a care team for NANEAS was organized in 2014, which has made home visits to medically complex patients since 2015. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the population attended at home and the care modality. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Retrospective descriptive study by reviewing the clinical file of NANEAS patients seen at home in this period. RESULTS: 581 visits were analyzed in 81 patients, median 8 years, 78% men, 63% institutionalized, 78% with neurological diseases. 75% were of high and medium complexity according to the SOCHIPE classification. Of the visits, 71% were in rural places, median travel time 60 minutes and direct attention 26 minutes. 60% of the visits were made to patients with medical devices, 99% attended by a pediatrician, 33% a nurse and 68% another professional, who in 61% corresponded to the child neurologist. CONCLUSIONS: The highest proportion of patients seen are of high and medium complexity with medical devices and with underlying neurological pathology, so it is important to have a neurologist in the interdisciplinary team. Many of the visits are made in places distant from the hospital center due to the difficulty of transferring these patients. This modality of care promotes a better quality of life for medically complex children and their families.

Return on investment of self-management education and home visits for children with asthma.

OBJECTIVE: Priorities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 6|18 Initiative include outpatient asthma self-management education (ASME) and home-based asthma visits (home visit) as interventions for children with poorly-controlled asthma. ASME and home visit intervention programs are currently not widely available. This project was to assess the economic sustainability of these programs for state asthma control programs reimbursed by Medicaid. METHODS: We used a simulation model based on parameters from the literature and Medicaid claims, controlling for regression to the mean. We modeled scenarios under various selection criteria based on healthcare utilization and age to forecast the return on investment (ROI) using data from New York. The resulting tool is available in Excel or Python. RESULTS: Our model projected health improvement and cost savings for all simulated interventions. Compared against home visits alone, the simulated ASME alone intervention had a higher ROI for all healthcare utilization and age scenarios. Savings were primarily highest in simulated program participants who had two or more asthma-related emergency department visits or one inpatient visit compared to those participants who had one or more asthma-related emergency department visits. Segmenting the selection criteria by age did not significantly change the results. CONCLUSIONS: This model forecasts reduced healthcare costs and improved health outcomes as a result of ASME and home visits for children with high urgent healthcare utilization (more than two emergency department visits or one inpatient hospitalization) for asthma. Utilizing specific selection criteria, state based asthma control programs can improve health and reduce healthcare costs.

Views of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) among home-based personal assistance services consumers and workers.

BACKGROUND: The 21st Century Cures Act, enacted in 2016, mandates that Medicaid programs must implement Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) for home-based personal assistance services (PAS) and home health care (HHC) by January 2020. EVV involves real-time tracking of arrival and departure times, locations, and sometimes activities of PAS and HHC workers for home-based consumers. OBJECTIVE: We examined the views and perceptions of consumers with disability and paid PAS workers about EVV. METHODS: Our qualitative study consisted of in-depth interviews with 21 home-based PAS consumers with significant disability and 20 PAS workers. Thirteen consumers and 10 workers commented on EVV. We audio-recorded interviews and had these recordings transcribed verbatim by a professional transcription service. We used conventional content analysis to identify key themes from the interviews. RESULTS: Qualitative interviews suggest that EVV is intrusive, reduces flexibility from the consumer-worker relationship, has technical difficulties, but may help certain consumers. Our results suggest that EVV interferes with the standard way PAS is provided and raises fears about EVV negatively affecting recruitment and retention of PAS workers. CONCLUSIONS: Policymakers should consider these perspectives and concerns as states implement EVV. Policymakers will need to monitor the effects of EVV on both PAS consumers and workers over time to ensure that EVV is not negatively affecting provision of these essential services.

Survive and Thrive in Brazil: The Boa Vista Early Childhood Program: study protocol of a stepped-wedge, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of evidence suggests that early life health and developmental outcomes can be improved through parental support programs. The objective of this project was to test the feasibility, impact, and relative cost-effectiveness of an adapted "Reach Up and Learn" program delivered through home-visiting programs as well as through center-based parenting groups on child health and development in the municipality of Boa Vista, Brazil. METHODS: A randomized, stepped-wedge design was used to roll out and evaluate the two parenting platforms in Boa Vista municipality. A total of 39 neighborhoods with a high Neighborhood Vulnerability Index were selected for the study. For the first phase of the program, nine neighborhoods were randomly selected for home visits, and two were randomly selected for the center-based parenting groups. In the second phase of the program, 10 neighborhoods were added to the home-visiting program, and eight were added to the center-based program. In the final phase of the program, the remaining 10 control areas will also be assigned to treatment. Study eligibility will be assessed through a baseline survey completed by all pregnant women in the 39 study areas. Pregnant women will be eligible to participate in the study if they are either classified as poor, were under age 20 years when they became pregnant, or if they indicate to have been exposed to domestic or sexual violence. To assess program impact, an endline survey will be conducted when children reach age 2 years. The primary study outcome is child development at age 2 years as measured by the PRIDI instrument. Secondary outcome will be infant mortality, which will be assessed linking municipal vital registration systems to the program rollout. DISCUSSION: This trial will assess the feasibility and impact of parenting programs rolled out at medium scale. The results from the trial should create evidence urgently needed for guiding Brazil's national Criança Feliz program as well as similar efforts in other countries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03386747. Registered on 13 December 2017. All items of the World Health Organization Trial Registration Data Set are available in this record.

Home visits by occupational therapists improve adherence to recommendations: Process evaluation of a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: As part of hospital discharge planning, occupational therapists often provide recommendations to improve the interaction between a person and their home environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the number and type of recommendations made by occupational therapists during a home assessment visit compared to hospital-based assessment for patients recovering from hip fracture. A secondary aim was to explore adherence rates to the different types of recommendations. METHODS: Process evaluation of a randomised controlled trial of 65 participants recovering from hip fracture, returning to community living after hospital discharge. All participants received inpatient multidisciplinary rehabilitation and hospital-based assessment by an occupational therapist (usual care). In addition, the intervention group participated in a single home visit with an occupational therapist prior to hospital discharge. Analysis included the number and type of occupational therapy recommendations, adherence to recommendations at 30 days after discharge, and mediation analysis. RESULTS: Participants in the home visit group received more recommendations than the usual care group (mean difference [MD] 2.8, 95% CI 1.6 to 3.9) and adhered to a greater proportion of recommendations for assistive technologies (MD 11.4%, 95% CI 2.6 to 20.2) and task modifications (MD 10.0%, 95% CI 0.7 to 19.3). Participants in both groups had lower rates of adherence to recommendations for home modifications compared with other types of recommendations. Adherence to recommendations was a mediator in the relationship between participants' involvement in a pre-discharge home visit and reduced hospital readmissions. CONCLUSION: There was greater adherence to occupational therapy recommendations when patients recovering from hip fracture participated in a home visit compared to hospital-based assessment, contributing to reduced readmissions to hospital in the first 30 days. Home visits offer additional benefits to hospital-based assessment through the use of a collaborative approach to decision making in the home environment.

Effect of community health workers' visits on uptake of modern contraception among rural women of reproductive age in Nigeria.

This paper assessed the effect of visits by Community Health Workers (CHW) in the prior 12 months on modern contraceptive use at the time of the survey using a national sample of women residing in rural communities in Nigeria. Cross-sectional data from 5072 rural women ages 15-49 years interviewed in the PMA2020 Survey in 6 states in Nigeria in 2018 were used. Descriptive analysis and generalized linear models were conducted in Stata 15.1 and average marginal effects calculated. Overall prevalence of modern contraceptive use was 14.8% (95% CI: 12.7%, 17.3%), varying from 2.1% in Kano to 22.7% in Nasarawa. Ten percent of women reported that they were visited by a community health worker in the 12-month period preceding the survey, ranging from 2.9% in Kano to 14.6% in Nasarawa. Women visited by a CHW had 50% higher odds of reporting modern contraceptive use, and these visits raised the probability of modern contraceptive use by an average of 6.4 percentage points overall. Local governments in rural Nigeria should invest in training, deploying and supervising CHWs in the provision of modern contraception through home visits to women who may otherwise have limited access to improve use.

Community Asthma Initiative: Cost Analyses using Claims Data from a Medicaid Managed Care Organization.

Objective: Use claims data to examine the cost benefit of the Community Asthma Initiative (CAI), a Boston area nurse-supervised community health worker (CHW) asthma home-visiting program. Methods: The reduction in asthma treatment costs was assessed using Massachusetts claims data from one Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO) in the north east that included all costs between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2016. The data was used to determine asthma-related utilization cost reductions between 1 year pre- and 1, 2 and 3 years post-intervention. The cost reductions for 45 CAI patients and 45 cost-matched comparison patients were measured. Return on investment (ROI) was computed as the difference in cost reduction for CAI patients and a cost-matched comparison population divided by CAI program cost. Results: The excess reduction in per patient asthma-related utilization costs among CAI patients compared to the comparison population was $806 (p = 0.047), $1,253 (p = 0.01) and $1,549 (p = 0.005) between 1 year pre- and 1, 2 and 3 years post-intervention. These yielded adjusted ROI's of 0.31, 0.78 and 1.37 after 1, 2 and 3 years post-CAI intervention. Conclusions: The reduction in asthma utilization costs of a home visit program by nurse-supervised CHWs exceeds program costs. The findings support the business case for the provision of secondary prevention of home-based asthma services through reimbursement from payers or integration into Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).

Identifying which children with persistent asthma have preventive medications available at home.

Objective: To compare caregiver-reported preventive medication use and pharmacy data with medications available at home for children with persistent asthma, and identify factors associated with having preventive medication at home.Methods: We analyzed baseline data from the School-Based Telemedicine Enhanced Asthma Management (SB-TEAM) study, including medication use, symptoms, and demographics. Research assistants documented all asthma medications available during home visits. We reviewed pharmacy records for a subset of children. Bivariate and multivariate analyses identified factors associated with having any preventive medication in the home.Results: We included 335 children (mean 7.7 years, 56% Black, 34% Hispanic, 77% Medicaid; participation 79%). Most caregivers (69%) reported preventive medication use, yet only 45% had preventive medication at home. Compared to families with preventive medication at home, more families without preventive medication reported discontinuous insurance in the prior year (7% vs. 15%, p = .02) and medication sharing (22% vs. 32%, p = .04). For the subset with pharmacy records (n = 192), 40% filled a preventive medication in the past year and 15% had a preventive medication at home. In multivariate analyses, children were less likely to have preventive medication at home when caregivers reported no preventive medication use in the past 2 weeks (OR 0.25; 95% CI 0.14, 0.43), discontinuous insurance (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.19, 0.97), medication sharing (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.32, 0.91), or caregiver education ≥ HS (OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.35, 0.99).Conclusion: Among urban children with persistent asthma, neither caregiver report nor pharmacy data reflect home preventive medication availability. Inquiring about insurance coverage and medication sharing may improve preventive medication availability for these children.

Family-Based Mental Health Promotion for Somali Bantu and Bhutanese Refugees: Feasibility and Acceptability Trial.

PURPOSE: There are disparities in mental health of refugee youth compared with the general U.S. POPULATION: We conducted a pilot feasibility and acceptability trial of the home-visiting Family Strengthening Intervention for refugees (FSI-R) using a community-based participatory research approach. The FSI-R aims to promote youth mental health and family relationships. We hypothesized that FSI-R families would have better psychosocial outcomes and family functioning postintervention compared with care-as-usual (CAU) families. We hypothesized that FSI-R would be feasible to implement and accepted by communities. METHODS: A total of 40 Somali Bantu (n = 103 children, 58.40% female; n = 43 caregivers, 79.00% female) and 40 Bhutanese (n = 49 children, 55.30% female; n = 62 caregivers, 54.00% female) families were randomized to receive FSI-R or CAU. Refugee research assistants conducted psychosocial assessments pre- and post-intervention, and home visitors delivered the preventive intervention. Multilevel modeling assessed the effects of FSI-R. Feasibility was measured from retention, and acceptability was measured from satisfaction surveys. RESULTS: The retention rate of 82.50% indicates high feasibility, and high reports of satisfaction (81.50%) indicate community acceptance. Across communities, FSI-R children reported reduced traumatic stress reactions, and caregivers reported fewer child depression symptoms compared with CAU families (ß = -.42; p = .03; ß = -.34; p = .001). Bhutanese FSI-R children reported reduced family arguing (ß = -1.32; p = .04) and showed fewer depression symptoms and conduct problems by parent report (ß = -9.20; p = .04; ß = -.92; p = .01) compared with CAU. There were no significant differences by group on other measures. CONCLUSIONS: A family-based home-visiting preventive intervention can be feasible and acceptable and has promise for promoting mental health and family functioning among refugees.

Adherence to Well-Child Care and Home Visiting Enrollment Associated with Increased Emergency Department Utilization.

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric primary care and home visiting programs seek to reduce health disparities and promote coordinated health care use. It is unclear whether these services impact high-cost, emergency department (ED) utilization. We evaluated the association of well-child care (WCC) and home visiting with ED visit frequency for children < 1 year with an established medical home. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using linked administrative data for infants ≥ 34 weeks' gestation from 2010 to 2014, within a multisite, academic primary care system. Latent class analysis characterized longitudinal patterns of WCC. Multivariable negative binomial regression models tested the independent association between WCC patterns and home visiting enrollment with ED visits. RESULTS: Among 10,363 infants, three WCC latent classes were identified: "Adherent" (83.4% of the cohort), "Intermediate" (9.7%), and "Decreasing adherence" (7.0%). Sixty-one percent of the sample had ≥ 1 ED visit in the first 12 months of life, and 73% of all ED visits were triaged as non-urgent. There was a significant interaction effect between WCC pattern and insurance status. Among Medicaid-insured infants, "Intermediate" and "Decreasing adherence" WCC patterns were associated with a lower incident rate of ED visits compared with the "Adherent" pattern (incident rate ratios (IRR) 0.88, p = 0.03 and 0.79, p < 0.001 respectively); this effect was not observed among privately-insured infants. Home visiting enrollment was independently associated with a higher rate of ED visits (IRR 1.24, p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Among infants with an established medical home, adherence to recommended WCC and home visiting enrollment was associated with greater ED use for non-urgent conditions.

Protocol for a Noninferiority Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Home-Based Palliative Care (HomePal).

Introduction: As health care systems strive to meet the growing needs of seriously ill patients with high symptom burden and functional limitations, they need evidence about how best to deliver home-based palliative care (HBPC). We compare a standard HBPC model that includes routine home visits by nurses and prescribing clinicians with a tech-supported model that aims to promote timely interprofessional team coordination using video consultation with the prescribing clinician while the nurse is in the patient's home. We hypothesize that tech-supported HBPC will be no worse compared with standard HBPC. Methods: This study is a pragmatic, cluster randomized noninferiority trial conducted across 14 Kaiser Permanente sites in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest. Registered nurses (n = 102) were randomized to the two models so that approximately half of the participating patient-caregiver dyads will be in each study arm. Adult English or Spanish-speaking patients (estimate 10,000) with any serious illness and a survival prognosis of 1-2 years and their caregivers (estimate 4800) are being recruited to the HomePal study over ∼2.5 years. The primary patient outcomes are symptom improvement at one month and days spent at home. The primary caregiver outcome is perception of preparedness for caregiving. Study Implementation-Challenges and Contributions: During implementation we had to balance the rigors of conducting a clinical trial with pragmatic realities to ensure responsiveness to culture, structures, workforce, workflows of existing programs across multiple sites, and emerging policy and regulatory changes. We built close partnerships with stakeholders across multiple representative groups to define the comparators, prioritize and refine measures and study conduct, and optimize rigor in our analytical approaches. We have also incorporated extensive fidelity monitoring, mixed-method implementation evaluations, and early planning for dissemination to anticipate and address challenges longitudinally. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT#03694431.

What do community paramedics assess? An environmental scan and content analysis of patient assessment in community paramedicine.

OBJECTIVES: Patient assessment is a fundamental feature of community paramedicine, but the absence of a recognized standard for assessment practices contributes to uncertainty about what drives care planning and treatment decisions. Our objective was to summarize the content of assessment instruments and describe the state of current practice in community paramedicine home visit programs. METHODS: We performed an environmental scan of all community paramedicine programs in Ontario, Canada, and used content analysis to describe current assessment practices in home visit programs. The International Classification on Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) was used to categorize and compare assessments. Each item within each assessment form was classified according to the ICF taxonomy. RESULTS: A total of 43 of 52 paramedic services in Ontario, Canada, participated in the environmental scan with 24 being eligible for further investigation through content analysis of intake assessment forms. Among the 24 services, 16 met inclusion criteria for content analysis. Assessment forms contained between 13 and 252 assessment items (median 116.5, IQR 134.5). Most assessments included some content from each of the domains outlined in the ICF. At the subdomain level, only assessment of impairments of the functions of the cardiovascular, hematological, immunological, and respiratory systems appeared in all assessments. CONCLUSION: Although community paramedicine home visit programs may differ in design and aim, all complete multi-domain assessments as part of patient intake. If community paramedicine home visit programs share similar characteristics but assess patients differently, it is difficult to expect that the resulting referrals, care planning, treatments, or interventions will be similar.

OBJECTIFS: L'évaluation des patients est un élément fondamental de la pratique de la paramédecine communautaire, mais l'absence de norme reconnue en matière d'évaluation contribue à l'incertitude qui plane sur les facteurs pris en considération dans la planification des soins et les prises de décision relatives au traitement. L'étude visait donc à présenter un résumé du contenu des instruments d'évaluation et à décrire l'état de la pratique actuelle dans les programmes de visites à domicile en paramédecine communautaire. MÉTHODE: L'étude consistait en une analyse environnementale de tous les programmes de paramédecine communautaire offerts en Ontario et en une analyse de contenu visant à décrire les pratiques actuelles d'évaluation des patients appliquées dans le cadre des programmes de visites à domicile. Les chercheurs se sont référés à la Classification internationale du fonctionnement, du handicap et de la santé (CIF) pour comparer et classer les évaluations, et chacun des éléments inscrits sur chaque formulaire d'évaluation a été classé selon la taxonomie de la CIF. RÉSULTATS: Au total, 43 services paramédicaux sur 52, en Ontario, ont participé à l'analyse environnementale, dont 24 se prêtaient à une recherche approfondie reposant sur une analyse de contenu des formulaires d'évaluation initiale. Sur les 24 services, 16 répondaient aux critères de sélection en vue d'une analyse de contenu. Le nombre d'éléments évalués variait de 13 à 252 selon les formulaires (médiane : 116,5; écart interquartile : 134,5). La plupart des questionnaires contenaient des éléments tirés de chacun des domaines inscrits dans la CIF. Au niveau des sous-domaines, seule l'évaluation des troubles de fonctionnement des systèmes cardiovasculaire, sanguin, immunitaire et respiratoire figuraient sur tous les formulaires. CONCLUSION: Les programmes de visites à domicile en paramédecine communautaire peuvent certes avoir des différences de conception et de but, mais ils permettent tous une évaluation pluridimensionnelle des nouveaux patients. Si les programmes de visites à domicile en paramédecine communautaire ont des caractéristiques communes mais des formes d'évaluation différentes, il est difficile de s'attendre à des résultats comparables en ce qui concerne les consultations, les plans de soins, les traitements et les interventions.

Home visits in the Danish High Risk and Resilience Study - VIA 7: assessment of the home environment of 508 7-year-old children born to parents diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The home environment provided by the caregivers of a child is an influential single factor for development and well-being. We aimed to compare the quality of the home environment of children at familial high risk of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with population-based controls. METHODS: Danish nationwide registers were used to retrieve a cohort of 522 7-year-old children of parents diagnosed with schizophrenia (N = 202), bipolar disorder (N = 120) or none of these diagnoses (N = 200). The home environment was assessed using the Middle Childhood-Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory (MC-HOME Inventory). RESULTS: The proportion of children living in home environments that were evaluated not to meet the needs of a 7-year-old child was significantly larger in the two familial high-risk groups. This was true for 21% of the children with familial predisposition for schizophrenia and 7% of children with familial disposition for bipolar disorder. CONCLUSION: Children born to parents diagnosed with schizophrenia and to a lesser extent bipolar disorder are at an increased risk of growing up in a home environment with an insufficient level of stimulation and support. Identifying families with inadequate home environments is a necessary step towards specialized help and support to at-risk families.

Risk assessment practices among home visiting nurses and child protection caseworkers in Colorado, United States: A qualitative investigation.

Nurses and caseworkers engage in assessments with the families they serve. Nurse home visitors from Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) improve maternal-child health outcomes with first-time low-income mothers through care, education and support. In the United States, Child Protective Services (CPS) are state-level governmental agencies that protect children, including responding to reports of child maltreatment. This paper aimed to characterise similarities and differences in risk assessment practices between NFP nurses and CPS caseworkers in Colorado, United States. Using a grounded theory approach, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 112 NFP and CPS workers from seven Colorado NFP sites from 2013 to 2015. Study sites were purposefully selected based on size, structure, geography and degree of collaboration with CPS. We conducted interviews first with NFP sites and used snowball sampling to recruit CPS workers. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, validated and then coded in NVivo 10. Memo writing was conducted to organise and link concepts within the theme of risk assessment. NFP and CPS workers emphasised the importance of risk assessment in their respective practices. Although there were similarities in the types of risks assessed, we found variations in work processes, operational definitions and methods of risk assessment between the two organisations that impacted inter-organisational collaboration to serve high-risk mothers and their children. NFP and CPS workers may have different roles and responsibilities but their underlying goals are the same - to keep children and their families safe and healthy. By understanding these similarities and differences in practice, there lies potential to improve collaboration between home visiting programmes and child welfare to provide integrated service delivery of high-risk families and prevention of future child maltreatment.

Home visits made by general practitioners in the canton of Vaud between 2006 and 2015.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Although physicians’ home visits are highly valued by patients, and are among the measures that contribute to maintaining elderly patients at home, their number is decreasing worldwide. We aimed to describe the trends in home visits made by general practitioners (GPs) in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland between 2006 and 2015, and to explore their associated characteristics. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed billing data from family physicians (internists, generalists and practicing physicians) transmitted to the cantonal trust centre between 2006 and 2015. We explored physician and patient characteristics, first over the entire 10-year study period and then averaged by year. To explore factors associated with the number of home visits, we fitted a mixed effect negative binomial regression of the annual number of home visits per physician. RESULTS: Over ten years, 631 physicians billed a total of 451,634 home visits, of which 19.8% (n = 89,966) were emergency visits, and 9.7% (n = 43,915) were over the weekend. Home visits represented 2.5% of all consultations. Although the average annual number of physicians doing home visits remained stable at around 400, the mean annual number of visits per physician decreased from 125 in 2006 to 75 in 2015, resulting in a 40% decline in the absolute number of visits. Male physicians undertook more home visits than their female counterparts did, although the difference diminished over time. Visits to elderly patients (65+) represented 84.2% of the home visits. CONCLUSIONS: Although most physicians in the canton of Vaud continue to visit patients at home, the overall number of home visits is declining. Most home visits consist of routine visits to elderly patients. Physicians’ gender, age and specialty are associated with the number of home visits. In the rapidly evolving context of an ageing population and the development of home care, physicians’ role in home care provision should be revised, taking into account patient expectations and current health system constraints.

Community-based interventions to enhance healthy aging in disadvantaged areas: perceptions of older adults and health care professionals.

BACKGROUND: The number of older adults with different ethnic and socioeconomic background is steadily increasing. There is a need for community-based health promotion interventions for older adults that are responsive to ethnic and socioeconomic diversity among target populations. The aim of this study is to explore encounters between older adults living in disadvantaged areas and health care professionals in the context of community-based health promotion. METHODS: Qualitative methods were used involving interviews and focus groups with older adults (n = 22) and municipal health care professionals (n = 8), and multiple observations were conducted. Data were analyzed thematically. RESULTS: Findings show a gap between health promotion services and older adults due to a perception of services as being neither accessible nor acceptable in the context of complex health and psychosocial needs. Health care professionals reported trust, proximity and presence as fundamental factors for improving acceptability and accessibility of health promotion services. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to develop participatory approaches to engage older adults who live in disadvantaged areas in municipal health promotion services and to ensure that these services are relevant to these groups.