Learning to trust in home visiting: Mothers' perspective
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Abstract
Home visiting can be an effective service delivery approach for reaching families with children at risk for developmental delays or maltreatment, but most of the related research is from the agency or home visitor perspectives, with particular focus on maternal and child outcomes. Five mothers currently enrolled in home visiting programs were interviewed using qualitative, semi-structured interviews focused on how each mother perceived the development of trust with her home visitor. Four themes emerged; mistrust and fear, alleviation of fears, learning trust, and letting go. The strong emphasis mothers placed on mistrust and fear is missing from agency and home visitor focused research. Finding ways to help home visitors understand mothers' fears should be a consideration for efforts aimed at increasing program engagement and retention.