Ben Goodman

Publications [#219479] of Ben Goodman

Journal Articles

  1. Dodge, K.A., Goodman, W.B., Murphy, R.A., O’Donnell, K., & Sato, J., Randomized controlled trial evaluation of universal postnatal nurse home visiting: Impacts on child emergency medical care at age 12-months [Special Issue], Pediatrics, vol. 132 (2013), pp. S140-S1246, ISSN 1098-4275
    (last updated on 2013/11/13)

    Abstract:
    Introduction. The most popular maltreatment prevention programs are long-term, intensive home visiting for high-risk, primiparous women selected by demographic characteristics. Although some programs have demonstrated successful reductions in child maltreatment, they target only a small portion of the community, limiting population impact. We examined whether Durham Connects, a brief, universal, postnatal, nurse home-visiting intervention can prevent child emergency medical care utilization through age 12 months. Method. All 4,777 resident births in Durham, NC, between July 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010, were randomly assigned, with even birthdate families to intervention and odd birthdate families to control. Intervention families were recruited at birth and received 1-3 nurse home visits between 3-12 weeks post-birth to assess family needs and connect parents with community resources to improve infant health and well-being. A random, representative subset of 549 families received blinded interviews for impact evaluation and consented to release of hospital records. Analyses were conducted using an intent-to-treat design. Results. Relative to intervention-eligible families, after covarying demographic risk (i.e., birth complications, Medicaid status, minority status, and single parent status), control families had 85% more hospital overnights (Mintervention=0.11 and Mcontrol=0.74, p=.0001, effect size=0.27) and 50% more total emergency medical care episodes (ER visits + hospital overnights) (Mintervention =0.78 and Mcontrol =1.57, p=.0001; effect size=0.28) by infant age 12-months. Conclusions. A brief, universal, postnatal nurse home visiting program can improve child health outcomes, as indicated by reductions in emergency medical care episodes one year after enrollment. Implications for Policy and Practice. Results suggest that a brief, postnatal home visiting program can be implemented universally, with effects on child emergency healthcare that are similar to those of longer, more intensive home-visiting programs. This approach offers a novel solution to the paradox faced by existing, targeted home visiting programs by offering individually-tailored intervention while obtaining population-level impact.