UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) and the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) recently published the following report connected to DFPM-RED faculty member Dr. Lorraine McKelvey’s work with Arkansas Home Visiting Networks.
Infants born preterm and with a Low Birth Weight (LBW) have a greater risk for long-term health issues than infants who are born full-term. To reduce that risk and foster better health outcomes, the Following Baby Back Home (FBBH) program offers families of these infants additional support after their discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) through health-centered home visiting services.
This evaluation demonstrates that infants enrolled in FBBH receive more of their suggested childhood vaccinations and have a lower mortality rate than similar infants (matched control group) who are not enrolled in FBBH.