From evidence‐base to practice: implementation of the Nurse Family Partnership programme in England
| Date | 02 December 2010 |
| Published date | 02 December 2010 |
| Pages | 4-17 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/jcs.2010.0691 |
| Author | Jacqueline Barnes |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
Journal of Children’s Ser vices • V olume 5 Issue 4 • Dece mber 2010 © P ier Professional Ltd
4
Abstract
The aims of this article are to highlight the issues that are relevant to the implementation
of a rigorously evidence-based programme of support, the Nurse Family Partnership
programme, into a national system of care. Methods used are semi-structured interviews
with families in receipt of the programme in the first 10 sites, with the nursing staff, with
members of the central team guiding the initiative and with other professionals. Analyses of
data collected during programme delivery evaluate fidelity of delivery. The results indicate
that the programme is perceived in a positive light and take-up is high, with delivery close
to the stated US objectives. Issues pertaining to sustainability are highlighted – in particular,
local concerns about cost set against long-term rather than immediate gains. However, local
investment is predominantly strong, with creative methods being planned for the future.
Overall, the study shows that within an NHS system of care it is possible to deliver a targeted
evidence-based programme.
Key words
Parent support; young parents; policy; evaluation; fidelity; sustainability
based interventions; can they then be implemented
in the ‘real world’; and can high quality
implementation be sustained? A further question,
given the importance of the cultural context to
development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Super &
Harkness, 2002), is whether and how evidence-
based interventions can be implemented ‘across
borders’ (Ferrer-Wreder et al, 2004).
It has been noted (Schinke et al, 2002) that
the implementation of successful programmes
in new contexts may lead to a tension between
the (perceived) need to tailor the programme to
Introduction
It has been noted that most studies of home-
visiting programmes initially provided in
experimental conditions have not reported on
measures of fidelity in implementation (Astuto
& Allen, 2009). In a special issue of this Journal
devoted to discussing randomised controlled
trials (RCTs) in children’s services, Bumbarger
and Perkins (2008) address the important issue
of taking evidence-based interventions into
communities. They raise three questions: how can
communities be encouraged to adopt evidence-
From evidence-base to
practice: implementation of
the Nurse Family Partnership
programme in England
Jacqueline Barnes
Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
10.5042/jcs.2010.0691
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