Caution must therefore be exercised in interpreting results , but the case for investment in parenting and health visitor-related programmes appears most strong , especially when impacts beyond the health sector are taken into account .
In the workplace an economic return on investment in a number of comprehensive workplace health promotion programmes and stress management projects ( largely in the USA ) was reported , while group-based exercise and psychosocial interventions are of potential benefit to older people .
Long-term effects of home visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and neglect. Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial.
CONTEXT Home-visitation services have been promoted as a means of improving maternal and child health and functioning . However , long-term effects have not been examined . OBJECTIVE To examine the long-term effects of a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses on women 's life course and child abuse and neglect . DESIGN R and omized trial . SETTING Semirural community in New York . PARTICIPANTS Of 400 consecutive pregnant women with no previous live births enrolled , 324 participated in a follow-up study when their children were 15 years old . INTERVENTION Families received a mean of 9 home visits during pregnancy and 23 home visits from the child 's birth through the second birthday . DATA SOURCES AND MEASURES : Women 's use of welfare and number of subsequent children were based on self-report ; their arrests and convictions were based on self-report and archived data from New York State . Verified reports of child abuse and neglect were abstract ed from state records . MAIN RESULTS During the 15-year period after the birth of their first child , in contrast to women in the comparison group , women who were visited by nurses during pregnancy and infancy were identified as perpetrators of child abuse and neglect in 0.29 vs 0.54 verified reports ( P<.001 ) . Among women who were unmarried and from households of low socioeconomic status at initial enrollment , in contrast to those in the comparison group , nurse-visited women had 1.3 vs 1.6 subsequent births ( P=.02 ) , 65 vs 37 months between the birth of the first and a second child ( P=.001 ) , 60 vs 90 months ' receiving Aid to Families With Dependent Children ( P=.005 ) , 0.41 vs 0.73 behavioral impairments due to use of alcohol and other drugs ( P=.03 ) , 0.18 vs 0.58 arrests by self-report ( P<.001 ) , and 0.16 vs 0.90 arrests disclosed by New York State records ( P<.001 ) . CONCLUSIONS This program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses can reduce the number of subsequent pregnancies , the use of welfare , child abuse and neglect , and criminal behavior on the part of low-income , unmarried mothers for up to 15 years after the birth of the first child
Caution must therefore be exercised in interpreting results , but the case for investment in parenting and health visitor-related programmes appears most strong , especially when impacts beyond the health sector are taken into account .
In the workplace an economic return on investment in a number of comprehensive workplace health promotion programmes and stress management projects ( largely in the USA ) was reported , while group-based exercise and psychosocial interventions are of potential benefit to older people .