101275: Reaching Isolated New Mothers

About the Course:

The Visiting Moms Program delivers a relationship-based home visiting intervention in which volunteers address challenges faced by at-risk new mothers and families. For new mothers experiencing isolation, anxiety about parenting, lack of support, or limited resources, this program offers a volunteer, who is a mother herself, in the role of a mentor mother to connect the new mother to resources, listen without judgment, and strengthen parenting abilities. Less stress for the mother and improved care for the infant are major program goals. Relational theories and studies on home visiting interventions are used as lenses for viewing this type of intervention. Vignettes are included to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms through which the new mothers change. Clinicians, program planners, and administrators are likely to find this article helpful in its coverage of the literature on volunteers and home-based services, its description of the relational intervention provided by one home visiting program using volunteers, and its recommendations for ways in which others can design such programs. COURSE SYLLABUS I. Postpartum Experiences of Isolation and Loss of Family Support Networks II. Relational Theories and Their Illumination of Early Mothering Experiences III. Findings From Home Visiting Studies: What Works? IV. Examining an Intervention in Action: The Visiting Moms Program V. Implications for Practice and Programming

Journal/Publisher:

Families in Society (Alliance for Children and Families)

Publication Date:

2007/ Vol. 88, No. 4

Authors

Ruth Paris, PhD, MSW, LICSW; Meagan K. Gemborys, MSW; Peggy H. Kaufman, MEd, MSW, LICSW; Debbie Whitehill, MSW, LICSW

About the Authors:

Assistant Professor of Clinical Practice, Boston University School of Social Work

Primary Clinician, The Children’s Community Support Collaborative at The Home for Little Wanderers

Director, Center for Early Relationships Support, Faculty Infant Parent Training Institute Jewish Family and Children’s Service

Director, Visiting Moms Program, Jewish Family and Children’s Service

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for social workers, counselors, psychologists, and other human services and behavioral health professionals who seek knowledge about techniques for working with new mothers and home-based services. It is appropriate for participants with beginning and intermediate levels of knowledge about the topic.

Course Objectives:

1. Provide literature on volunteers and home-based services, at-risk new mothers and families, and a description of the relational intervention provided by one home visiting program using volunteers.

2. Identify recommendations for clinicians, program planners, and administrators for ways in which others can design such home-based visiting programs using volunteers.