How does health visiting in the first year of life vary by family characteristics? A longitudinal analysis of administrative data.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The health visiting service in UK promotes the health and wellbeing of families with young children and comprises a universal offer (three mandated contacts between birth and 12 months) and additional contacts based on need. We aimed to understand how the level of health visiting support received varies by family characteristics.

Methods

Using the Community Services Data Set linked to Hospital Episode Statistics, we identified 52 555 children in 10 local authorities with complete health visiting data for 12 months between April 2016 and March 2020. We analysed variation in health visiting contacts by deprivation, child ethnicity, maternal age, adversity and previous live births.

Results

41 340/52 555 children (79%) received the universal service; 63% receiv

SUBMITTER: Bunting C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11879038 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature