Peer-reviewed article
Barriers and pathways to engagement in a home visiting intervention: Parents' perspectives on minding the baby.
Dalgaard NT, Heitmann E, Pontoppidan M ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined why parents in Denmark engaged with, dropped out of, or refused a home visiting program called Minding the Baby that supports families from pregnancy through the child's second birthday. Researchers interviewed 31 parents and identified eight key themes affecting participation, including appreciation for confidence-building support but also concerns about surveillance, time demands, and stigma. Most parents found the program acceptable when it was flexible and clearly communicated, though some felt it didn't fit their needs or circumstances.
Key points
- Parents valued parenting confidence-building, relational support, and flexible delivery of the intervention
- Barriers to engagement included mistrust, fear of surveillance, scheduling constraints (particularly for fathers), and stigma associated with being labeled as part of a target group
- Some parents felt they were too well-functioning to need the service, despite the program being designed for vulnerable families
- Transparent communication and father engagement were highlighted as important factors for successful implementation
- The program had limits in addressing all family needs, indicating that some parents required additional support beyond what MTB could provide
Limitations
This study provides qualitative insights into parent perspectives but does not measure whether Minding the Baby actually improves child development outcomes or parenting behaviors. The findings are specific to a Danish context and may not generalize to other countries or cultural settings.
Abstract
Caregivers play a critical role in early child development, yet adverse experiences such as trauma or mental health difficulties can compromise caregiving. Minding the Baby (MTB) is a home-visiting intervention supporting vulnerable families from pregnancy to the child's second birthday. This study explored parents' experiences to understand engagement and barriers to participation. Within a Danish MTB trial, 31 semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with parents who completed, discontinued, or declined MTB. Data were analyzed thematically. Eight themes were identified: (1) Validation and Support in Early Parenthood, (2) Community Mobilization, (3) Divergent Perspectives within Couples, (4) Therapeutic Alliance and Home Visitors' Skills, (5) Intervention as Time Consuming or Confusing, (6) Fear of Surveillance, (7) Not Identifying with the Target Group, and (8) When MTB Is Not Enough. Most parents valued parenting confidence-building, relational support, and flexible delivery. Barriers included mistrust, surveillance concerns, scheduling constraints (especially for fathers), perceptions of not belonging to the target group due to feeling "too well-functioning", associated stigma, and limits of program scope. Parents found MTB broadly acceptable and supportive, highlighting the importance of transparent communication, flexible scheduling, and father engagement. Findings offer insights for recruitment, tailoring, and implementation of home-visiting programs.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Minding the Baby (MTB), a home-visiting intervention providing relational support and parenting confidence-building from pregnancy to child's second birthday
- Population
- Pregnant women and parents with young children in Denmark; 31 parents who completed, discontinued, or declined participation in a MTB trial
Key finding
Most parents valued the intervention's parenting confidence-building and relational support aspects
NT et al. · Europe PMC · 1 Sept 2026