Child abuse and neglect are social and public health problems that need to be addressed by strong policies and dynamic initiatives that show quantifiable results. The Healthy Families America® Initiative: Integrating Research, Theory and Practice is the most up-to-date examination of the home visitation program aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect. This contemporary and comprehensive summary of research and practice contains five empirical articles at the national, state, and multi-state levels, scholarly reviews, insights into Healthy Families America® (HFA) challenges and successes, and commentaries about the next steps for HFA. This detailed study of HFA is a roadmap for prevention efforts of the future, discussing in detail its past and present, the benefits and challenges of researcher/practitioner partnerships, and expert suggestions to improve practice. Healthy Families America is a program that works to help new families give their children a healthy, abuse- and neglect-free environment in which to grow. The Healthy Families America® Initiative: Integrating Research, Theory and Practice looks closely at the research to assess whether or not the program has actually attained its projected goals. This book comprehensively discusses the programs from both micro and macro perspectives, while offering practical strategies to strengthen HFA and guide the next phase of child abuse prevention. This resource also provides several tables to clearly present research data and is extensively referenced. The Healthy Families America® Initiative: Integrating Research, Theory and Practice covers the history of HFA; challenges and successes associated with its expansion as a national prevention initiative; the credentialing process; the evolution of the HFA Research to Practice Network (RPN); information on Every Child Succeeds and Healthy Families Arizona programs, and what makes them work; the theory, research, and practical constraints of developing, implementing, and evaluating a multi-site and statewide HFA program; the Web-based eECS system that optimizes quality assurance and collects data to document and identify clinical needs; an overview of the literature on home visiting outcomes; a current comprehensive summary of HFA outcomes; and suggestions on how to frame child abuse and neglect prevention to best impact citizens and public policy. The Healthy Families America® Initiative: Integrating Research, Theory and Practice is essential reading for professionals involved in child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment, community psychologists, professionals involved in prevention and health promotion, child advocates, HFA’s program evaluators and practitioners, sociologists, and policymakers.

Child abuse and neglect are social and public health problems that need to be addressed by strong policies and dynamic initiatives that show quantifiable results. The Healthy Families America® Initiative: Integrating Research, Theory and Practice is the most up-to-date examination of the home visitation program aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect. This contemporary and comprehensive summary of research and practice contains five empirical articles at the national, state, and multi-state levels, scholarly reviews, insights into Healthy Families America® (HFA) challenges and successes, and commentaries about the next steps for HFA. This detailed study of HFA is a roadmap for prevention efforts of the future, discussing in detail its past and present, the benefits and challenges of researcher/practitioner partnerships, and expert suggestions to improve practice. Healthy Families America is a program that works to help new families give their children a healthy, abuse- and neglect-free environment in which to grow. The Healthy Families America® Initiative: Integrating Research, Theory and Practice looks closely at the research to assess whether or not the program has actually attained its projected goals. This book comprehensively discusses the programs from both micro and macro perspectives, while offering practical strategies to strengthen HFA and guide the next phase of child abuse prevention. This resource also provides several tables to clearly present research data and is extensively referenced. The Healthy Families America® Initiative: Integrating Research, Theory and Practice covers the history of HFA; challenges and successes associated with its expansion as a national prevention initiative; the credentialing process; the evolution of the HFA Research to Practice Network (RPN); information on Every Child Succeeds and Healthy Families Arizona programs, and what makes them work; the theory, research, and practical constraints of developing, implementing, and evaluating a multi-site and statewide HFA program; the Web-based eECS system that optimizes quality assurance and collects data to document and identify clinical needs; an overview of the literature on home visiting outcomes; a current comprehensive summary of HFA outcomes; and suggestions on how to frame child abuse and neglect prevention to best impact citizens and public policy. The Healthy Families America® Initiative: Integrating Research, Theory and Practice is essential reading for professionals involved in child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment, community psychologists, professionals involved in prevention and health promotion, child advocates, HFA’s program evaluators and practitioners, sociologists, and policymakers.

Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

The understanding of how to reduce risk factors for mental disorders has expanded remarkably as a result of recent scientific advances. This study, mandated by Congress, reviews those advances in the context of current research and provides a targeted definition of prevention and a conceptual framework that emphasizes risk reduction. Highlighting opportunities for and barriers to interventions, the book draws on successful models for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, injuries, and smoking. In addition, it reviews the risk factors associated with Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, alcohol abuse and dependence, depressive disorders, and conduct disorders and evaluates current illustrative prevention programs. The models and examination provide a framework for the design, application, and evaluation of interventions intended to prevent mental disorders and the transfer of knowledge about prevention from research to clinical practice. The book presents a focused research agenda, with recommendations on how to develop effective intervention programs, create a cadre of prevention researchers, and improve coordination among federal agencies.