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Evaluation of Hawaii's Healthy Start Program.
A K Duggan1, E C McFarlane, A M Windham
1Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Baltimore, MD, USA.
The Future of Children
|July 22, 1999
Summary
Hawaii's Healthy Start Program (HSP) shows success in improving parenting skills and reducing violence for at-risk families. However, overall impacts on child development and healthcare access require further investigation.
Area of Science:
- Child development
- Public health
- Social work
Background:
- Hawaii's Healthy Start Program (HSP) aims to prevent child abuse and neglect.
- It targets newborns from families at risk for adverse child outcomes.
- HSP has influenced similar programs nationally and internationally.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the HSP model.
- To present findings from an ongoing evaluation study.
- To assess program impact after two years of service.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal evaluation of families participating in HSP.
- Data collection after two years of program service and follow-up.
- Analysis of program implementation across three administering agencies.
Main Results:
- HSP successfully linked families to pediatric care, improved maternal parenting efficacy, and reduced parenting stress and partner violence.
- No significant overall improvements were found in child development, healthcare use for illness, or child maltreatment.
- Agency-specific positive effects were noted in parent-child interaction, child development, and partner violence reduction.
Conclusions:
- Home visiting programs require monitoring for fidelity to the model.
- Utilizing comparison groups is crucial for determining program impact.
- Variations in program implementation influenced family engagement and outcomes.