National Health Program Realigns To Extend Nurse Home Visitation Services On Nationwide Level
Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a national nonprofit organization committed to producing enduring improvements in the health and well being of low-income, first-time parents and their children. The NFP National Office located in Denver, Colorado, helps communities replicate and sustain an evidence-based program of home visiting by registered nurses.
Denver, CO (PRWEB) December 4, 2004
Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), the nationÂ’s only nurse home visitation program that has been proven effective at helping low-income, first-time mothers prepare for successful parenthood and raise healthy children, has moved forward with plans to replicate the program nationally. The program, which has for several years been affiliated with and partially supported by the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, has realigned into an independent non-profit organization.
Nurse-Family Partnership will continue its collaboration with the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences CenterÂ’s Prevention Research Center (PRC), whose director, Dr. David Olds, founded the program in 1978. Dr. OldsÂ’ ongoing research, evaluation and development of existing and newly-implemented sites is critical in steadily improving the nurse home visitation program.
Nurse-Family Partnership is a voluntary prevention program that provides home visitation services by highly educated nurses, beginning early in pregnancy through the childÂ’s second year. Nurses provide support, education and counseling on health, behavioral and self-sufficiency issues. In collaboration with in-state partners; Invest in Kids (IIK) and Public/Private Ventures (PPV), Nurse-Family Partnership currently supports a network of over 170 sites in 20 states, reaching over 258 counties and 13,500 families. The goal of NFP is to make the program available to all low-income, first-time mothers across the U. S.
Nurse-Family Partnership is the most rigorously tested program of its kind. Randomized controlled trials conducted over the past 30 years have shown that, supported by regular visits from professional registered nurses, NFP mothers fare far better than their peers not receiving similar services. NFP mothers are less likely to abuse or neglect their children, have subsequent unintended pregnancies, or misuse alcohol or drugs; and they are more likely to move off welfare and successfully maintain stable employment. In light of these proven outcomes, Nurse-Family Partnership has been praised by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the PresidentÂ’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.
To oversee its expansion, Nurse-Family Partnership has formed a national board of directors, comprising dedicated, executive-level professionals in the fields of health and child development, social policy, marketing and communications, law and financial management.
The New York-based Edna McConnell Clark Foundation is providing NFP a significant portion of the funding needed to replicate nationally. The FoundationÂ’s investment is part of its ongoing effort to help high-performing youth serving organizations increase their capacity to serve more young people from low-income backgrounds with high-quality, effective programs. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which has consistently supported research of the program model since 1979, contributed funding for research and development of the replication process. Generous support has also come from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Mabel Hughes Charitable Trust, the Picower Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control.
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