BC Healthy Connections Project

Summary

Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a primary prevention program that was developed by Dr. David Olds in the United States (US) with the goal of helping vulnerable young first-time mothers and their children. The program involves public health nurses (PHNs) visiting mothers in their homes, providing intensive supports starting in pregnancy and continuing until children reach their second birthday. Studies in the US have shown that NFP significantly reduces child maltreatment and child behaviour problems, while also improving children's early learning and mother's economic self-sufficiency. Economic studies have also shown that the program pays for itself over the long-term. However, NFP has never been tested in Canada. Due to major differences in our populations and in our public services, we do not know whether NFP will show the same benefits here. We therefore plan to conduct a scientific evaluation of NFP's effectiveness in British Columbia (BC), in close collaboration with the BC government and BC's Health Authorities. Using randomized-controlled trial methods, NFP's effectiveness will be specifically evaluated in comparison with existing perinatal services in BC regarding outcomes across three fundamental domains: 1) pregnancy and birth; 2) child health and development; and 3) maternal health and life course. Findings from this evaluation will be used to improve the NFP program - to better meet the needs of vulnerable young mothers and their children in BC.

Conditions

• Effectiveness of Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) in BC

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)

Trained Public Health Nurses (PHNs) will deliver Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) using specified pregnancy, infancy and toddler curricula. Following enrollment in the study, NFP PHNs will provide regular home visits to participants throughout the remainder of the participant's pregnancy, continuing through until the child's second birthday. In addition to offering standard care during each visit, PHNs will deliver NFP content using program materials relevant to the following domains: personal health, maternal role, environmental health, family and friends, life course development, and health and human services.

BEHAVIORAL

Existing services

Participants allocated to the comparison group will receive all the usual perinatal programs and services offered within their Health Authority, including primary care and specialist physician services covered under BC's public healthcare system. These services vary across the province but may include: standard primary healthcare services; public health programs including prenatal classes, pregnancy outreach and home visiting by nurses or paraprofessionals; and a variety of targeted and universal parenting and early child development programs.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• McMaster University

  collaborator OTHER

• Ministry of Health, British Columbia

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Ministry of Children and Family Development, British Columbia

  collaborator OTHER

• University of British Columbia

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Victoria

  collaborator OTHER

• Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Simon Fraser University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Charlotte Waddell, MSc, MD, CCFP, FRCPC · Director, Children's Health Policy Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Max Age

24 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-10-15

Primary Completion

2021-12-31

Completion

2022-03-31

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations