Authors' objectives:

The objective of this study was to address the question of whether increased postnatal support could influence maternal and child health outcomes. It aimed to measure the impact and cost-effectiveness of two alternative strategies for providing support to mothers in disadvantaged inner city areas: a programme of visits from health visitors trained in supportive listening [Support Health Visitor (SHV)] and the services of local community support organisations [Community Group Support (CGS)].

Authors' results and conclusions: The 731 participants were well matched in terms of socio-economic characteristics and health and support variables. Fourteen per cent of the participants were non-English speaking. Response rates at the two follow-up points were 90% and 82%. At both points there were no differences that could not be attributed to chance on the primary outcomes of maternal depression, child injury or maternal smoking. At both follow-ups there were differences in secondary outcomes: at the first follow-up, there was reduced use of general practitioners (GPs) by SHV children, but increased use of NHS health visitors and social workers by mothers; at the second follow-up, both CGS and SHV mothers had less use of midwifery services (fewer were pregnant), and SHV mothers were less worried about their childs health and development. Uptake of the CGS intervention was low: 19%, compared with 94% for the SHV intervention. Satisfaction with the intervention among women in the SHV group was high.

Authors' recommendations: There was no evidence of impact on the primary outcomes of either intervention. The SHV intervention was popular with women, and was associated with improvement in some of the secondary outcomes. This suggests that greater emphasis on the social support role of health visitors could improve some measures of family well-being.

Authors' methods: Randomised controlled trial, Economic evaluation

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.hta.ac.uk/1060

Year Published: 2004

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: England, United Kingdom

Organisation Name: NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme

Contact Address: NIHR Journals Library, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre, Alpha House, University of Southampton Science Park, Southampton SO16 7NS, UK

Contact Name: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk

Contact Email: journals.library@nihr.ac.uk

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