An intervention that incorporates community health workers (CHWs) led to improved preventive service delivery and experience of care, and offers lessons for efficient staffing for well-child visits.

Background

The Parent-focused Redesign for Encounters, Newborns to Toddlers (PARENT) intervention incorporates CHWs to deliver health coaching and education during well-child visits for children under 1 year old. This randomized clinical trial, based at multiple federally qualified health centers with parents of Medicaid-enrolled children, evaluated the impact of PARENT on outcomes — such as experiences of care, appointment attendance, and delivery of expanded preventive services.

Findings

Parents participating in PARENT reported improvements in preventive services, including receiving more anticipatory guidance, psychosocial assessments, and developmental or behavioral health care supports. Participating parents also had increased well-child visit attendance and reported that visits were more helpful.

Key Takeaways

The PARENT intervention offers an effective approach for incorporating CHWs into well-child care. The model expands services and improves family engagement, while also enabling clinicians to work at the top of their license.