Inventory of Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for Healthy Start Programs

Evidence-based practices include actions, activities, strategies, or approaches that improve the health of women, before, during, and after pregnancy in order to improve birth outcomes and give infants up to age two years a healthy start. Also included in the collection are informational materials and tools that make it easier to implement evidence-based practices. To search by title, use the main search box located at the top of this page.


Family Spirit

Family Spirit is an evidence-based early childhood home-visiting program designed for and by American Indian communities. Family Spirit combines the use of paraprofessionals from the community as home visitors and a culturally focused, strengths-based curriculum as a core strategy to support young families. From pregnancy through the child’s 3rd birthday, parents gain knowledge and skills to promote healthy development and positive lifestyles for themselves and their children. Family Spirit addresses intergenerational behavioral health problems, optimizes local cultural assets, and overcomes deficits in the professional health care workforce in low resource communities. Evidence from three randomized controlled trials has documented important results including: increased parenting knowledge and involvement; decreased maternal depression; increased home safety; decreased emotional and behavioral problems of mothers; and decreased emotional and behavioral problems of children. The Family Spirit curriculum modules cover: Prenatal Care, Infant Care, Your Growing Child, Toddler Care, My Family and Me, and Healthy Living.

Topics:

Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Depression Home Visiting Parenting Education Partner Involvement Prenatal Care and Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Socio-emotional Development for Children

Approaches:

Improve Women's Health Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Initiating Breastfeeding Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening Reproductive Life Plan Safe Sleep Smoking Abstinence Sustaining Breastfeeding

Evidence Rating: I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.

4Ps Plus©

4Ps Plus© is the first validated instrument that has been developed to screen for alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use; depression; and domestic violence, specifically in pregnant women. In addition, brief intervention strategies, grounded in motivational interviewing techniques, are integrated into the screening process. “I am concerned…” is an interactive, multisensory psychoeducational approach that takes about five minutes and is administered to all women who are found through the screening process to be using alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs.

Topics:

Alcohol/Drug Services Depression Intimate Partner Violence Prenatal Care and Education Risk Assessment Tobacco Cessation

Approaches:

Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience

Benchmarks:

Intimate Partner Violence Perinatal Depression Screening Smoking Abstinence

Evidence Rating: II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.