BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

    Factors influencing the acceptance of volunteer home-visiting support offered to families with new babies

    Barnes, Jacqueline and MacPherson, K. and Senior, R. (2006) Factors influencing the acceptance of volunteer home-visiting support offered to families with new babies. Child and Family Social Work 11 (2), pp. 107-111. ISSN 1356-7500.

    Full text not available from this repository.

    Abstract

    This study investigated the characteristics of families with a new baby, screened to identify families with vulnerability, who did not take up the offer of home‐visiting support from a community volunteer. Using logistic regression, background factors were compared with those families receiving support. Those not receiving support, 59.1% of those referred, were more socially, educationally and economically disadvantaged, living in more disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Those who received support were more likely to have larger families, no local support network, or had family members with health or mental health problems. One in nine families referred had not been reached by the support service. In brief qualitative telephone interviews, mothers who did not take up the offer of support reported changing their mind, wanting to cope without help and in some cases feeling that the support offered did not meet their specific needs. Policy implications are suggested, in particular offering support to new parents thought to be vulnerable within a statutory framework, with sufficient infrastructure and resources to conduct outreach work. Research implications include making a concerted effort to find out about families who decide not to take part in service evaluation studies, or who drop out after initial agreement.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
    Depositing User: Sarah Hall
    Date Deposited: 01 Oct 2019 13:55
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:54
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/29210

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    0Downloads
    6 month trend
    237Hits

    Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.

    Archive Staff Only (login required)

    Edit/View Item Edit/View Item