Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

‘It Was Easier Because I Had Help’: Mothers’ Reflections on the Long-Term Impact of Sustained Nurse Home Visiting

  • Published:
Maternal and Child Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

This qualitative descriptive study sought women’s views of the Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-visiting (MECSH) program they received from prior to birth to child-age 2-years. MECSH is a structured nurse home visiting program for a broad range of women of all ages (both primiparous and multiparous) who experienced stressors in pregnancy that could negatively impact on maternal and child outcomes. Women were asked for their perceptions of how and why the intervention worked for them, and the impact of the intervention on their subsequent parenting to child-age 5-years.

Methods

Thirty-six women participated in a semi-structured interview when their child commenced formal schooling at age 5-years. Recorded and transcribed data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Results

Women described the importance of a positive relationship with the nurse, and nurses’ availability and responsiveness as critical to positive impacts. The interventions they recalled receiving were consistent with the comprehensive MECSH program model. The intervention impacted on women’s emotional well-being, confidence and help-seeking behaviour, and positively impacted on their parenting of their MECSH program child and their older and subsequent children. A small number of women reported feeling stressed and disconnected from services following program completion, however, most women continued to apply the learnings from the program.

Conclusions

Overall women reported positive impacts not just for themselves and their parenting abilities during the 2-year intervention program, but also described ongoing benefit to their subsequent parenting in the preschool period.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gomby, D. S. (1999). Understanding evaluations of home visitation programs. Future of Children, 9(1), 27–43.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gomby, D. S., Larson, C. S., Lewit, E. M., & Behrman, R. E. (1993). Home visiting: Analysis and recommendations. Future of Children: Home Visiting, 3(3), 6–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kitzman, H. J., Cole, R., Yoos, H. L., & Olds, D. (1997). Challenges experienced by home visitors: A qualitative study of program implementation. Journal of Community Psychology, 25(1), 95–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kardamanidis, K., Kemp, L., & Schmied, V. (2009). Uncovering psychosocial needs: Perspectives of Australian child and family health nurses in a sustained home visiting trial. Contemporary Nurse, 33(1), 50–58.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Sawyer, M. G., Barnes, J., Frost, L., Jeffs, D., Bowering, K., & Lynch, J. (2013). Nurse perceptions of family home-visiting programmes in Australia and England. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 49(5), 369–374.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. O’Brien, R. A., Moritz, P., Luckey, D. W., McClatchey, M. W., Ingoldsby, E. M., & Olds, D. L. (2012). Mixed methods analysis of participant attrition in the Nurse Family Partnership. Prevention Science, 13(3), 219–228.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Brookes, S. J., Summers, J. A., Thornburg, K. R., Ispa, J. M., & Lane, V. J. (2006). Building successful home visitor–mother relationships and reaching program goals in two Early Head Start programs: A qualitative look at contributing factors. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21(1), 25–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Jack, S. M., DiCenso, A., & Lohfeld, L. (2005). A theory of maternal engagement with public health nurses and family visitors. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 49(2), 182–190.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. DeMay, D. A. (2003). The experience of being a client in an Alaska public health nursing home visitation program. Public Health Nursing, 20(3), 228–236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Landy, C. K., Jack, S. M., Wahoush, O., Sheehan, D., & MacMillan, H. L. (2012). Mothers’ experiences in the Nurse Family Partnership program: A qualitative case study. BMC Nursing, 11, 15.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Kitzman, H. J., Olds, D. L., Cole, R. E., Hanks, C. A., Anson, E. A., Arcoleo, K. J., et al. (2010). Enduring effects of prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses on children: Follow-up of a randomized trial among children at age 12 years. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 164(5), 412–418.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Eckenrode, J., Campa, M., Luckey, D. W., Henderson, C. R., Jr., Cole, R., Kitzman, H., et al. (2010). Long-term effects of prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation on the life course of youths: 19-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 164(1), 9–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Kemp, L., Harris, E., McMahon, C., Matthey, S., Vimpani, G., Anderson, T., et al. (2008). Miller early childhood sustained home-visiting (MECSH) trial: Design, method and sample description. BMC Public Health, 8, 424.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Kemp, L., Harris, E., McMahon, C., Matthey, S., Vimpani, G., Anderson, T., et al. (2011). Child and family outcomes of a long-term nurse home visitation program: A randomised controlled trial. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 96(6), 533–540.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Kemp, L., Harris, E., McMahon, C., Matthey, S., Vimpani, G., Anderson, T., et al. (2013). Benefits of psychosocial intervention and continuity of care by child and family health nurses in the pre and postnatal period: Process evaluation. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69(8), 1850–1861.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Altheide, D. L. (1987). Ethnographic content analysis. Qualitative Sociology, 10, 65–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Morgan, D. L. (1993). Qualitative content analysis: A guide to paths not taken. Qualitative Health Research, 3, 112–121.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Zhang, Y., & Wildemuth, B. M. (2009). Qualitative analysis of content. In B. Wildemuth (Ed.), Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science (pp. 308–319). Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Sandelowski, M. (2000). Focus on research methods: Whatever happened to qualitative description? Research in Nursing & Health, 23, 334–340.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Butcher, R. L., & Gersch, I. S. (2014). Parental experiences of the “Time Together” home visiting intervention: An attachment theory perspective. Educational Psychology in Practice, 30(1), 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Olds, D., Kitzman, H., Cole, R., & Robinson, J. A. (1997). Theoretical foundations of a program of home visitation for pregnant women and parents of young children. Journal of Community Psychology, 25(1), 9–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The study was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP0770212) and National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship (630755). We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the MECSH research team: Dr. Elizabeth Harris, A/Prof Catherine McMahon, Prof Graham Vimpani, Dr. Stephen Matthey, Prof Susan Dockett, Prof Robert Perry, Dr. Teresa Anderson and Prof Virginia Schmied. We also thank Sheryl Scharkie for her assistance with data collection, Fiona Byrne for assistance in the preparation of this paper for publication, and thank participating families.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation (CHETRE), A Unit of Population Health, South Western Sydney Local Health District, NSW Health, Liverpool Hospital, Locked Bag 7103, Liverpool BC, NSW, 1871, Australia

    Siggi Zapart

  2. Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation (CHETRE), Part of the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Liverpool Hospital, Locked Bag 7103, Liverpool BC, NSW, 1871, Australia

    Jennifer Knight & Lynn Kemp

  3. Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, 1 Campbell Street, Liverpool, NSW, 2170, Australia

    Siggi Zapart, Jennifer Knight & Lynn Kemp

Authors
  1. Siggi Zapart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer Knight
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lynn Kemp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lynn Kemp.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zapart, S., Knight, J. & Kemp, L. ‘It Was Easier Because I Had Help’: Mothers’ Reflections on the Long-Term Impact of Sustained Nurse Home Visiting. Matern Child Health J 20, 196–204 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-015-1819-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-015-1819-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation