The impact of a Caribbean home-visiting child development program on cognitive skills |
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| Institution: | 1. Laboratório de Biodiversidade Entomológica,Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;2. Dep. de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Univ. de Valencia, Burjassot, Valencia, Spain;3. Entomology Branch, Div. Parasitic Diseases, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA;4. Laboratório de Fisiologia e Bioquímica de Insetos Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;5. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde, Pernambuco, Brazil;6. Laboratório de Genética Humana, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;7. Laboratório de Eco-epidemiologia da Doença de Chagas, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;8. Centro de Des. Tecnológico em Saúde/Fiocruz, CDTS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;9. Univers. Est. Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Araquara, SP, Prog. de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Monitoramento Ambiental (PPGEMA), UFPB, Campus IV, Paraíba, Brazil;10. Institute de Recherche pour le Development, Montpelier, France;1. Health Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA;2. Graduate Program in Ethology and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, School of Mind, Brain, and Behavior, College of Science, University of Arizona, USA;1. Mitchell Cancer Institute, University Of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA;2. NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group, Buffalo, NY, USA;3. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA;4. The Research Institute at Nationwide Children''s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA;5. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA;6. Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA;1. CNC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Biochemical Genetics Laboratory, University of Coimbra, Portugal;2. CHUC - Coimbra University Hospitals, Portugal;3. Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal;4. Metabolic Unit, Centre for Child Development, Pediatric Hospital of Coimbra - CHUC, Portugal |
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| Abstract: | This paper provides a short-term impact evaluation of a home-visiting Early Child Development (ECD) program in the Caribbean aimed at vulnerable children from birth to three years. The analysis is based on a quasi-experimental research design including approximately four hundred children in treatment and comparable control communities. The differences-in-differences methodology estimates intention-to-treat effects. One year after implementation, we find no significant effects on the cognitive development of the average child, but pronounced differences by birth cohort. The program has significantly improved Fine Motor Skills and Visual Reception scores, related to early reading and writing abilities, of the youngest children aged below 18 months at program start. There is no program impact on the older cohort, whose cognitive development appears to be more strongly correlated with center-based ECD services. Language development has not improved for either cohort. The findings suggest that an early window of opportunities may exist for home-based programs. |
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| Keywords: | Early childhood development Cognitive skills Home-based intervention Impact evaluation The Caribbean |
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