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Resources, Education, and Care in the Home (REACH-Futures)

Public Health & Prevention: Home- or Family-based
  Literature review updated June 2018.

Resources, Education, and Care in the Home (REACH-Futures) is a home visiting program designed to reduce infant mortality and morbidity among low-income families. Home visits are made by a nurse and community worker during the first year after the birth of a child. Community workers conduct the first home visits two weeks after the child’s birth and make regular contact with the families thereafter through home visits or by phone. The nurse accompanies the community worker on home visits at 1, 6, and 12 months to conduct infant health care and developmental screenings. In the included study, participating families typically received five home visits and seven phone contacts during the 12-month intervention.
 
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META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured Primary or secondary participant No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Repeat pregnancy
A pregnancy that occurs within two years of a prior birth for the same mother.
21 Primary 2 258 -0.026 0.148 21 -0.072 0.625
Preschool test scores
Measures of cognition in young children on standardized scales.
 1 Secondary 2 258 0.045 0.092 1 0.098 0.488
Out-of-home placement
The removal of a child from parental care, most often to foster care.
 1 Secondary 1 258 0.046 0.122 1 0.128 0.296

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Norr, K.F., Crittenden, K.S., Lehrer, E.L., Reyes, O., Boyd, C.B., Nacion, K.W., & Watanabe, K. (2003). Maternal and infant outcomes at one year for a nurse‐health advocate home visiting program serving African Americans and Mexican Americans. Public Health Nursing, 20(3), 190-203.