View/Open - Dalhousie University

CHAPTER 3: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
In this chapter, I provide an overview of family home visiting programs and the
associated literature. The chapter begins with a brief overview of the major types of
family home visiting programs, the recent history of longer-term home visiting
programs, and an explanation of what is meant by the term ‘paid home visitor.’ I then
focus in on longer-term home visiting programs, providing a more in-depth description
of the programs themselves and the associated literature. Programs with paid visitors
are presented first, followed by programs with volunteer visitors. The chapter closes
with an overview of mixed-delivery programs and the dearth of literature on such
programs.
3.1 OVERVIEW OF FAMILY HOME VISITING
For the purposes of this study, home visiting programs for families with infants
and young children have been divided into two very broad – and at times, overlapping –
categories:
‘Early’ home visiting programs (e.g., Public Health/Community Health nursing
services). These are most commonly provided by public health units or maternity
hospitals in recognition of the particular risks, and the steep learning curve,
associated with the perinatal period. Service duration, intensity, and eligibility
(not all are universally available) vary widely from one country to another.
Longer-term home visiting programs, most often ‘targeted’ to a particular
geographical area or sub-population of families deemed to be vulnerable or ‘atrisk.’
Specific to staffing, I have divided these programs into three sub-categories:
• programs with paid visitors
• programs with volunteer visitors
• programs with both paid and volunteer visitors (in this thesis, I have
referred to these as mixed-delivery programs)
30