- Address : University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, MSC 09 5220, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 - Project Director Name(s) : Rebecca Kilburn / Theresa H Cruz - Contact Phone Numbers : Director Phone: (505) 272-4462, UNM SPO Phone: (505) 272-9383, Fax: (505) 272-0159 - Email Address : Rebecca Kilburn - MKilburn@salud.unm.edu / Theresa H Cruz - thcruz@salud.unm.edu Goal: To inform decisions regarding in-person and virtual early childhood home visiting policy and programming Aim 1: To estimate the availability and use of broadband and cell service among families with young children in New Mexico Aim 2: To pilot test promising approaches to hybrid home visiting in order to identify the approach that provides cost-effective improvements in child and family outcomes Background: Early childhood home visiting (ECHV) is a voluntary, home-based, prevention strategy that pairs professionals or paraprofessionals with pregnant women and parents or caregivers of young children (pre-Kindergarten) to help mitigate the poor outcomes associated with socioeconomic disadvantage and adverse childhood experiences. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ECHV programs in New Mexico pivoted to a virtual model to continue services while health precautions precluded in-person visits. Currently, ECHV programs can conduct visits in-person or virtually. Virtual visits cost considerably less than in-person visits, so a hybrid approach could save money and enable more families to receive services. However, it is not known the extent to which virtual services are accessible by NM families with young children, nor the extent to which different models of hybrid (in-person and virtual) services provide cost-effective improvements in maternal health, child health, and other related outcomes. In order for home visits to be conducted virtually, families with young children need broadband service which provides high-speed internet and/or reliable cellular
phone service. The family also needs a subscription or other service that they can use for accessing the broadband or cellular service on devices. Lastly, the family also needs to have devices that can be used with available services. Broadband and Cell Service Accessibility: HV: SOLVE will assess multiple sources of data to identify the number and proportions of families with young children with access to broadband, cellular service, and devices to use these services. HV: SOLVE will also examine differences in rural areas, Tribal areas, among different racial and ethnic groups, and among different income groups. Hybrid ECHV models: HV: SOLVE will pilot test two approaches to combining in-person and virtual ECHV. The study will examine an evidence-based version where all families are assigned the number of visits that result in the best results, on average. The second is a parental choice version where the parent determines the number of in-person visits per month, with a minimum of one and maximum of four, with the other visits being virtual. These two study arms will be compared with regard to multiple health outcomes, as well as cost-effectiveness.