Home visiting to families with a newborn child

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Objective — To validate child health clinic nurses' observations at the first visit to families having a newborn baby. Design — The nurses' observations were compared with results from a prenatal assessment of the home conditions and with observations made by a psychologist at a home visit about one year later. Setting — A newbuilt suburb of Stockholm. Participants — 373 families with a newborn. Outcome measures — Distribution of observations in subgroups, maximum likelihood, positive predictive value. Results — A significant relationship between the nurses' observations, the prenatal assessment, and the psychologist's evaluation of the home situation was found. Children from homes assessed as ≪at risk≫ by the nurses also had lower quotients at Griffiths' test one year later. Conclusion — Already during the child's neonatal period, the nurses make valid observations that are useful in selecting children at risk of subsequent developmental problems.