Flinders Medical Centre Early Links Evaluation Report: Final Report March 2007
Abstract
There is international evidence to support early
intervention strategies with families and children, that
improve longer term outcomes for health. There is also
evidence that supports the provision of appropriate
services to women in the antenatal period as one of
a range of factors for successful interventions that
target families and infants. The context for antenatal
interventions involves a brief period in a family’s life
and such interventions need to be a component of
community based interventions that link women and
their babies into the community in a continuity of care
framework. The Early Links Program which has been
implemented at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) is a
program intending to address issues regarding the
identifi cation and response to women who require
extra supports during the antenatal period and of
infants assessed to be at risk during the postnatal
period.
The Flinders Early Links Program commenced in
September 2004, arising from the recognition of a
need for a consistent identifi cation and response
for high risk women and infants. FMC’s Early Links
Program was modifi ed and adapted from the
Strengthening Links Program that is in operation
at Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
An Antenatal Assessment Tool was developed by
FMC’s Social Work Service and the Women’s and
Children’s Division, with the goal of providing a
consistent screen for identifying women at risk. The
universal administration of this Antenatal Assessment
Tool to all women, at the earliest opportunity in their
pregnancies, commenced in October 2005.
The Southern Adelaide Health Service (SAHS) has
commissioned this evaluation to determine the impact
of the Early Links Program from the perspective of
the staff and key stakeholders involved, including
women who have participated in the Program. The
Southern Adelaide Health Service Interim Strategic
Plan for 2005-2010 includes an aim of “improving
the level of support for young children and their
families to assist these children having a good start in
life” (p. 11). A key objective of the Strategic Plan is to
“Reduce the risk and improve the health outcomes
for infants and children vulnerable to harm” (p. 12).
A key performance indicator included “A coordinated
and systematic demonstration model is developed to
improve health outcomes for vulnerable infants and
children” (p. 13). The Flinders Early Links Program
fi ts this objective as one model to “improve health
outcomes for vulnerable infants and children” (Social
Work and Counselling Services, 2006).
The Southern Adelaide Health Service have proposed
an evaluation to determine the impact of the Early
Links Program, and in particular the impact of the
Antenatal Assessment Questionnaire.