Evaluation of the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) Scotland: A Natural Experiment Approach

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of FNP in Scotland – by linking routine administrative data.

Background

The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is a licensed evidence-based programme designed to improve outcomes for young first-time mothers and their children. It was originally developed in the United States by Professor David Olds and colleagues at the University of Colorado, Denver (UCD), and is delivered under licence in other countries.

Evaluating effectiveness of FNP

The research will investigate whether young mothers and their children participating in the FNP programme have better outcomes than those who are not participating in FNP.

Routine data

The study will take the form of a natural experiment using linked routine data. This means that individuals who have already completed the programme in Scotland can be followed up, from a distance, using their health, education and social care information.

A data safe haven will securely hold all of the anonymised data and it will be made available to the project team via a remote portal.

Informing policy

The findings of the study will contribute to the developing evidence for determining the effectiveness of FNP programme in Scotland and will inform policy for expansion and continuation of the programme.

The Building Blocks trial evaluated the effectiveness of this programme in England.

Government publication

Cardiff University's evaluation of the Family Nurse Partnership specialist home visiting programme has been summarised in a methods paper published by the Scottish Government. This document describes the detailed methodological approach taken by the study team which is based on a natural experiment.

The study uses solely administrative data from a range of public sector sources. A parallel protocol has also been accepted for publication in a scientific journal.