Based on the US Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program, the German home visiting program "Pro Kind" offered support for socially and financially disadvantaged first-time mothers from pregnancy until the children's second birthday. A multi-centered, longitudinal randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted to assess its effectiveness on mothers and children. A total of 755 women with multiple risk factors were recruited, 394 received regular home visits (treatment group), while 361 only had access to standard community services (control group). Program influences on family environment (e.g., quality of home, social support), maternal competencies (e.g., maternal self-efficacy, empathy, parenting style), and child development (e.g., cognitive and motor development) were assessed from mothers' program intake in pregnancy to children's second birthday based on self-reports in regular interviews and developmental tests. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) models showed small, but significant positive treatment effects on parental self-efficacy, and marginally significant effects on social support, and knowledge on child rearing. Maternal stress, self-efficacy, and feelings of attachment in the TG tend to show a more positive development over time. Subgroup effects were found for high-risk mothers in the TG, who reported more social support over time and, generally, had children with higher developmental scores compared to their CG counterparts. Post hoc analyses of implementation variables revealed the quality of the helping relationship as a significant indicator of treatment effects. Results are discussed in terms of implementation and public policy differences between NFP and Pro Kind.

Adequate knowledge about the target group is essential for user-focused health care. Little differentiated information on the health and health care of migrants is available in Germany, and focused research on migrant groups hardly exists. The burden of the migration itself, the change in the socioeconomic status (compared to the home country) and - compared with the locals - a more restricted access to the health care system affect the health of migrants. A major health problem with this group is addiction. Characteristics of health and health behaviour of Turkish- and Russian-speaking migrants in Germany are examined by a study supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Rigorously evaluated prenatal and infancy home visitation programs for families at risk have proven to effectively prevent the development of early onset and later conduct problems. The German pilot project “Pro Kind” is an adaptation of the US evidence-based Nurse-Family Partnership program. It has been evaluated in a longitudinal randomized control group design since 2006. In this paper, preliminary results for prenatal health behavior, pregnancy, birth as well as child neurodevelopmental outcomes at 6 and 12 months of age are presented. So far, positive treatment effects are only found for the cognitive outcomes at the age of 12 months.

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the home visiting program "Pro Kind". A total of 755 primiparae with multiple risk factors were recruited through the end of 2009 in three German federal states (Lower Saxony, Bremen, Saxony) and were randomized into one of two research groups. All participants had access to standard community service; women in the treatment group also received a program of home visitation over a period of 2.5 years. Primary objectives were improvement of maternal health behavior during pregnancy and birth of a healthy child. Long-term objectives are better outcomes of child health and development. To date, significant group differences in the primary objective variables are not detectable. Interim analyses at the ages of 6 and 12 months showed a tendency for a positive treatment effect on cognitive development. Methodological and practical limitations are critically discussed.