Home Health Visiting in Europe

The authors conclude that home health visiting programs in European countries have been successful, in part, because these countries have a comprehensive maternal and child health system, and home visiting is well integrated into this broader system of care and support for all families.

Abstract

European countries have a long history of providing home health visiting services. These services contrast in many ways with the services of those programs in the United States described by Douglas Powell in this journal issue. Most notably, the European programs are typically universal in that they are offered to all families. In describing the European programs, Sheila Kamerman and Alfred Kahn give special focus to programs in Denmark and Great Britain. Universal home health visiting has been in place in these countries for decades and is widely accepted as a valuable and effective service, although formal research on its effectiveness has been limited. The authors conclude that home health visiting programs have been successful, in part, because these countries have a comprehensive maternal and child health system (both to finance and to deliver services), and home visiting is well integrated into this broader system of care and support for all families. ome visiting programs for very young children and their families are not a uniform intervention. As discussed in the article by Powell in this journal issue, these programs vary in their content, goals, and staffing. This article focuses on European home visiting programs in which public health nurses visit homes following the birth of a child. Special attention is given to describing these programs in Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Denmark. The experience of these countries can guide U.S. policymakers as they consider expand- ing home visiting programs in this country.