***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: OBJECTIVE This project aim ed to evaluate the impact of a home visiting programme that targeted families where the child , for environmental reasons , was at great risk of poor health and developmental outcomes . METHODOLOGY Women in the immediate postpartum period were recruited to a r and omized double-blind controlled trial on the basis of self-reported vulnerability factors and were r and omly assigned to receive either a structured programme of nurse home visiting , supported by a social worker and paediatrician ( n = 90 ) , or assigned to a comparison group receiving st and ard community child health services ( n = 91 ) . Parenting stress and maternal depression were measured at enrollment and at 6 weeks . Preventive health behaviour , service satisfaction and home environment outcomes were tested at 6 weeks , as were child health outcomes . RESULTS At six weeks , women receiving the home-based programme had significant reductions in postnatal depression screening scores as well as improvements in their experience of the parental role and improvement in the ability to maintain their own identity . Maternal-infant interactions were more likely to be positive , with significantly higher ( better ) scores in aspects of the home environment related to optimal development in children , particularly maternal-infant secure attachment . Intervention group mothers were significantly more satisfied with the community child health service . CONCLUSIONS This form of intervention for families is effective in promoting secure maternal-infant attachment , preventing maternal mood disorder and is welcomed by the families receiving it . These findings may predict long-term benefits for the healthy development of children otherwise at risk of a range of poor health and development outcomes OBJECTIVE To improve health outcomes of children  , the US Maternal and Child Health Bureau has recommended more effective organization of preventive services within primary care practice s and more coordination between practice s and community-based agencies . However , applying these recommendations in communities is challenging because they require both more complex systems of care delivery within organizations and more complex interactions between them . To improve the way that preventive health care services are organized and delivered in 1 community , we design ed , implemented , and assessed the impact of a health care system-level approach , which involved addressing multiple care delivery processes , at multiple levels in the community , the practice , and the family . Our objective was to improve the processes of preventive services delivery to all children in a defined geographic community , with particular attention to health outcomes for low-income mothers and infants . DESIGN Observational intervention study in 1 North Carolina county ( population 182 000 ) involving low- income pregnant mothers and their infants , primary care practice s , and departments of health and mental health . An interrupted time-series design was used to assess rates of preventive services in office practice s before and after the intervention , and a historical cohort design was used to compare maternal and child health outcomes for women enrolled in an intensive home visiting program with women who sought prenatal care during the 9 months before the program 's initiation . Outcomes were assessed when the infants reached 12 months of age . INTERVENTIONS Our primary objective was to achieve changes in the process of care delivery at the level of the clinical interaction between care providers and patients that would lead to improved health and developmental outcomes for families . We selected interventions that were directed toward major risk factors ( eg , poverty , ineffective care systems for preventive care in office practice s ) and for which there was existing evidence of efficacy . The interventions involved community- , practice - , and family-level strategies to improve processes of care delivery  to families and children . The objectives of the community-level intervention were : 1 ) to achieve policy level changes that would result in changes in re sources available at the level of clinical care , 2 ) to engage multiple practice organizations in the intervention to achieve an effect on most , if not all , families in the community , and 3 ) to enhance communication between , among , and within public and private practice organizations to improve coordination and avoid duplication of services . The objective of the practice -level interventions was to overcome specific barriers in the process of care delivery so that preventive services could be effectively delivered . To assist the health department in implementing the family-level intervention , we provided assistance in hiring and training staff and ongoing consultation on staff supervision , including the use of structured protocol s for care delivery , and regular feedback data about implementation of the program . Interventions with primary care practice s focused on the design of the delivery system within the office and the use of teamwork and data in an " office systems " approach to improving clinical preventive care . All practice s ( N = 8) that enrolled at least 5 infants/month received help in assessing performance and developing systems ( eg , preventive services flow sheets ) for preventive services delivery . Family-level interventions addressed the process of care delivery to high-risk pregnant women ( < 100 % poverty ) and their infants . Mothers were recruited for the home visiting intervention when they first sought prenatal care at the community health center , the county 's largest provider of prenatal care to underserved women . The home visiting intervention involved teams of nurses and educators and involved 2 to 4 visits per month through the infant 's first year of life to provide parental education on fetal and infant health and development , enhance parents ' informal support systems , and link parents with needed health and human services . We included training in injury prevention and discipline , and home visitors assisted mothers in obtaining care from one of the primary care offices . RESULTS There were high levels of participation , changes in the organization of the delivery system , and improvements in preventive health outcomes . Agencies cooperated in joint contracting , staff training , and defining program eligibility . All 8 eligible practice s agreed to participate and 7/8 implemented at least 1 new office system element . Of eligible women , 89 % agreed to participate , and outcome data were available on 80 % ( 180/225 ) . After adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics , intervention group women were significantly more likely than comparison group women to use contraceptives ( 69 % vs 47 % ) , not smoke tobacco ( 27 % vs 54 % ) and have a safe and stimulating home environment for their children . Intervention group children were more likely to have had an appropriate number of well-child care visits ( 57 % vs 37 % ) and less likely to be injured ( 2 % vs 7 % ) . Intervention mothers also received Aid to Families with Dependent Children for fewer months after the birth of their child ( 7.7 months vs 11.3 months ) . CONCLUSIONS We observed a number of positive effects at all 3 levels of intervention . Policy-level changes at the state and community led to lasting changes in the organization and financing of care , which enabled changes in clinical services to take place . These changes have now been exp and ed beyond this community to other communities in the state . We were also able to engage multiple practice organizations , reduce duplication , and improve the coordination of care . Changes in the process of preventive services delivery were noted in participating practice s. Finally , the outcomes of the family-level intervention  were comparable in direction and magnitude to the outcomes of previous r and omized trials of the intervention . All the changes were achieved over a relatively brief 3-year study period , and many have been sustained since the project was completed . Tiered , interrelated interventions directed at an entire population of mothers and children hold promise to improve the effectiveness and outcomes of health care for families and children Study objective : To evaluate the effect of two forms of postnatal social support for disadvantaged inner city mothers on  maternal and child health outcomes . Design : R and omised controlled trial with economic and process evaluations and follow up at 12 and 18 months . The two intervention groups received either the offer of a year of monthly supportive listening home visits by a support health visitor ( SHV ) , or a year of support from community groups providing drop in sessions , home visiting and /or telephone support ( CGS ) . Each was compared with a control group that received st and ard health visitor services . Setting : Two disadvantaged boroughs of London , United Kingdom . Participants : 731 women from culturally diverse background s with infants . Main results : At 12 and 18 months , there was little impact for either intervention on the main outcomes : child injury ( SHV : relative risk 0.99 ; 95 % confidence intervals 0.68 to 1.45 , CGS : 0.91 ; 0.61 to1.36 ) , maternal smoking ( SHV : 0.86 ; 0.62 to 1.19 , CGS : 0.97 ; 0.72 to 1.33 ) or maternal depression ( SHV : 0.86 ; 0.62 to1.19 , CGS : 0.93 ; 0.69 to 1.27 ) . SHV women had different patterns of health service use ( with fewer taking their children to the GP ) and had less anxious experiences of motherhood than control women . User satisfaction with the SHV intervention was high . Uptake of the CGS intervention was low : 19 % , compared with 94 % for the SHV intervention . Conclusions : There was no evidence of impact on the primary outcomes of either intervention among this culturally diverse population . The SHV intervention was associated with improvement in some of the secondary outcomes 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 Objective . To evaluate the extent to which a program of home visitation ( Early Start ) , targeted at families who are facing stress and difficulty , had beneficial consequences for child health , preschool education , service utilization , parenting , child abuse and neglect , and behavioral adjustment . Methods . The study used a r and omized , controlled trial design in which 220 families who were participating in the Early Start program were contrasted with a control series of 223 families who were not participating in the program .  Families were enrolled in the program after population screening that was conducted by community health nurses . Families were enrolled in the program for up to 36 months . Outcomes were assessed at 6 , 12 , 24 , and 36 months after trial entry . Results . Families in the Early Start series received a mean of 24 months of service . Comparisons between the Early Start and control series over the 36-month follow-up period revealed that families in the Early Start program showed significant benefits in the areas of improved utilization of child health services , reduced rates of hospital attendance for injury/poisoning , increased preschool education , increased positive and nonpunitive parenting , reduced rates of severe parent/child assaults , and reduced rates of early problem behaviors . Effect sizes ( Cohen 's “ d ” ) were found to be in the small to moderate range , with d ranging from .03 to .31 ( median : .22 ) . Conclusions . The Early Start program was associated with small to moderate benefits in a wide range of areas relating to child health , preschool education , parenting , child abuse , and early behavioral adjustment . Comparisons with other studies are made , and threats to validity are considered PURPOSE To compare effects of an early intervention program ( EIP ) of intense home visitation by public health nurses ( PHNs ) with effects of traditional public health nursing care ( TPHN ) on infant health and selected maternal outcomes of adolescent mothers . METHODS EIP adolescents ( N = 102 ) received preparation-for-motherhood classes and individual home visits  ( from pregnancy through 1 year postpartum ) from PHNs employed in a county health department . Participants were predominantly Latina ( 64 % ) and African-American ( 11 % ) and from impoverished background s. Infant health outcomes were determined based on medical record data ; interviews and st and ardized question naires evaluated other program effects ( e.g. , maternal educational achievement and psychological status ) . Data were analyzed using Chi-square and repeated measures ANOVA . RESULTS Infants of EIP mothers experienced significantly fewer total days ( n = 74 ) and actual episodes ( n = 14 ) of hospitalization during the first year of life than those receiving TPHN ( n = 154 , n = 24 , respectively 
    Output:
    
FINDINGS Having a stated objective of reducing child maltreatment-a theory or mechanism of change underpinning the home-visiting program consistent with the target population and their needs and program components that can deliver against the nominated theory of change-considerably increased the chance of success .
Employing a theory-driven approach provides a new way of underst and ing the disparate performance of neonate/infant home-visiting programs .