Effective Home Visiting Training: Key Principles and Findings to Guide Training Developers and Evaluators

Area of Science:

• Early Childhood Education
• Workforce Development
• Adult Learning Theory

Background:

• Home visiting programs show varied outcomes, with training effectiveness being a key challenge.
• Home visitors often develop skills on the job due to limited formal training.
• Existing training may focus on specific models (e.g., Healthy Families America, Nurse-Family Partnership) or curricula.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review research on effective training principles for home visiting staff.
• To guide the design and evaluation of home visiting training initiatives.
• To explore the application of training transfer and adult learning principles in this context.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of meta-analyses, reviews, and recent publications.
• Focus on research related to training transfer and adult learning.
• Synthesis of findings to identify effective training components.

Main Results:

• Effective training includes skill introduction, modeling, practice, evaluation, and reflection.
• Ongoing supervisor support, encouragement, and feedback are crucial for skill application.
• Adult learning principles emphasize active participation and relevance.

Conclusions:

• Applying adult learning and training transfer principles can improve skill utilization by home visitors.
• Involving both home visitors and supervisors in training is vital for successful skill transfer.
• Enhanced training strategies can lead to more consistent and positive program outcomes.