Transitioning to telehealth due to COVID-19: Maintaining model fidelity in a home visiting program for parents of vulnerable infants
Date
2021-12-29
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Infant Mental Health Journal
Abstract
Maintaining treatment fidelity when implementing evidence-based interventions is a significant challenge. The inability to deliver in-person services due to the COVID-19 pandemic critically challenged the foundation of implementation fidelity for home visiting programs across the globe. The Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) program is an evidence-based home visiting intervention designed to increase sensitivity in parents of infants who have experienced early adversity. ABC's community effectiveness is due to rigorous fidelity monitoring and supervision. Fidelity is measured by microanalytic coding of parenting opportunities and “in-the-moment” commenting, the active ingredient of ABC. In this study, we examined intervention fidelity among parent coaches implementing ABC through telehealth. Random 5-min clips from 510 telehealth ABC session videos conducted by 91 parent coaches at 48 agencies were coded for their frequency and quality of in-the-moment comments. On average, parent coaches were able to exceed in-person commenting fidelity standards when implementing ABC through the telehealth format. The active fidelity monitoring and supervision inherent to ABC's dissemination afforded a smooth transition to implementing ABC through telehealth while adhering to fidelity standards. Procedural and clinical challenges to telehealth implementation are discussed, along with future directions for telehealth program effectiveness.
Description
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Roben, C. K. P., Kipp, E., Schein, S. S., Costello, A. H., & Dozier, M. (2022). Transitioning to telehealth due to COVID-19: Maintaining model fidelity in a home visiting program for parents of vulnerable infants. Infant Mental Health Journal, 43, 173– 184. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21963, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21963. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. This article will be embargoed until 12/29/2023.
Keywords
early childhood, evidence-based intervention, fidelity, parenting, telehealth
Citation
Roben, C. K. P., Kipp, E., Schein, S. S., Costello, A. H., & Dozier, M. (2022). Transitioning to telehealth due to COVID-19: Maintaining model fidelity in a home visiting program for parents of vulnerable infants. Infant Mental Health Journal, 43, 173– 184. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21963