Home Visitors' Feedback on the Implementation of a Preventive Intervention for Perinatal Depression

Introduction: This presentation examines parts of Simpson’s process model for transferring research to practice, which explicitly considers the role of training as a critical part of the process of adapting, evaluating, and implementing an intervention. The Mothers and Babies Course (MBC) is a group CBT preventive intervention for perinatal depression that was adapted into an individualized format for home visitors to use with their clients. Following training, home visitors implemented the 1-on-1 version of the MBC. This study obtained feedback from home visitors related to the training and implementation of the intervention. 

Methods: A total of 280 female staff members from 10 home visiting programs in Illinois and Maryland participated in a two-day training to learn the 15 1-on-1 sessions of the MBC. Of the 19 home visitors who have implemented the intervention with at least one client, 10 agreed to participate in a one hour phone interview to discuss their experiences. These interviews were transcribed, analyzed, and coded using thematic content analysis.

Results: Analyses revealed several themes. Regarding the training, participants wanted: (a) more training on mental health to feel better prepared to deliver the intervention, (b) more interactive activities to learn intervention content; and (c) more referrals and resources for women who were already experiencing significant depression. Regarding implementation, participants reported that: (a) the course required a significant amount of time to implement per visit, and (b) that certain clients (older, more mature) were more receptive to the intervention. 

Conclusions: Through feedback from home visitors’ training and implementation experiences, researchers have improved the training (increased interactive activities) and decreased the number of sessions (to 12) to address the time constraints. These findings provide home visitors’ rapid feedback on the implementation process and allow research on evidence-based interventions to be adapted transferred to real-world settings.