“The PROMISE study” A Patient Centered Online Training for Research Methods and Design in Home Visiting

Home visiting (HV) provides services to pregnant women and new mothers with the goal of improving maternal and child health outcomes for low-income, vulnerable populations. The vast majority of HV programs use lay home visitors to deliver services; these lay home visitors typically have education and training in early childhood or human services, but are void of training in research methodology. This limits lay home visitors’ ability to contribute as stakeholders in developing patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) that meets the needs of their patients and communities. HV research has grown exponentially in the last decade, with a growing emphasis on precision HV—i.e., determining which types of HV services work best for which families. This research calls on HV programs to conduct PCOR that a) targets outcomes that matter most to patients (i.e., HV clients) and b) develops appropriate modifications and enhancements to HV program models. In collaboration with HV stakeholders, this project will develop an innovative online training that prepares lay home visitors to become more effective PCOR partners, irrespective of their prior education and training.