David Olds directs the Prevention Research Center for Family and Child Health (PRC). The PRC has three major research foci. The first is the examination of the long-term impact of a program of prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses on the health and development of low-income, first-time mothers and their families. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, other federal agencies and private philanthropies, longitudinal follow-ups of randomized trials of this program are being conducted in Elmira, New York; Memphis, Tennessee; and Denver, Colorado. The longitudinal follow-ups look at program effects on maternal economic self-sufficiency, substance abuse and children's adaptive functioning, including mental health, criminal behavior and productive life-course as the children reach adolescence and young adulthood. A recently funded follow-up of the Elmira trial is examining the long-term impact of the program on the adult life-course of children whose mothers were enrolled in the study during pregnancy and is examining the moderating impact that genetic polymorphisms may play in moderating the effect of the program on antisocial behavior and depression.
In recent years, the PRC has begun a process of careful replication of the nurse home visitation program tested in these studies (now called the Nurse-Family Partnership program) in an effort to make the services available to a large portion of low-income pregnant women in the US. The national replication of the program is managed by a nonprofit organization known as the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP). The NFP national office helps communities develop their capacity to implement the program and provides training and technical assistance to nurses who deliver the services.
The second major focus of the PRC is now on conducting research aimed at improving the NFP program model with the use of randomized, controlled trials of augmented versions of the NFP model. Randomized trials of these program augmentations, conducted in the system of program sites around the country, include studies of interventions designed to help nurses deal more effectively with maternal depression and to more fully engage participants in the program.
The third and growing focus of work at the PRC in recent years has been on helping colleagues in other societies develop and test the program in their contexts. Leaders at the Center, for example, are involved in supporting the development and testing of the program in the Netherlands and in Germany. In general, we have taken the position that the program must be adapted, tested and found to be effective before it should be implemented in other countries and contexts.
During the last year, the Center has incorporated a growing body of research focused on improving assessment-based service-delivery in center- and home-based interventions, such as Early Head Start and Head Start, with the goal of improving literacy, relationship-functioning and school-readiness in children from at-risk families.
The PRC is also recognized for its periodic reviews of early intervention literature; its support of early intervention programs wishing to improve their effectiveness; its consultation with government and private agencies; and its training of prevention scientists.
Contact Dr.Olds:
Olds.David@tchden.org
(303)864-5200
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| Name: | Daivd Olds |
| Department: | Office of Academic Affairs -- Bioethics & Humanities |
| Location: | The Children's Hospital |
| Fitzsimmons campus | |
| Contact: | 303-777-5200 |
| Olds.David@tchden.org | |
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