Economically backward children getting help from trained paraprofessionals show better intellectual and behavioral development, a latest study states.
For the study, the researchers examined over 700 poor women and their children in Denver who enrolled themselves in a non-profit program, 'Nurse-Family Partnership,' that helps first-born children of first-time mothers with limited support.
The researchers wanted to understand how far these trained paraprofessionals are useful in helping the needy children. They divided the participants into three groups. The first group got free developmental screening and referral for their child. In the second group, the trained nurses visited the women during pregnancy and for two years after the pregnancy. For the women in the third group, the papraprofessionals gave them screening and a nurse home visit during pregnancy and the child's first two years of life.
The study results showed that children visited by paraprofessional made less mistakes on visual attention tests and task switching when they reached age 9. Children visited by nurses did not show much emotional and behavioral problems at age 6, internalizing and attention problems at age 9, and had better language skills.
"It will be important to determine whether it is particularly successful in reducing disparities in health, achievement and economic productivity among children born to mothers who have limited psychological resources and who are living in severely disadvantaged neighborhoods," study author David Olds, of the University of Colorado, Denver said in a news release.
"This will enable policy makers to focus [Nurse-Family Partnership] resources where they produce the greatest benefit," Olds concluded.
