The aim of the work was to make services more accessible and engaging for families so any support needs they or their children may have could be more easily addressed. This has the benefit of supporting their children’s early development.

About the project

This project was part of our three-year A Fairer Start Local partnership. By applying data science, behavioural science and design, we worked to better understand the challenges and opportunities to improve the early years delivery model. In Stockport, our efforts initially spanned multiple projects before narrowing in years two and three of the partnership to focus on the 1,001 critical days and integrating midwifery and health visiting services. We took a test-and-learn approach to co-design, deliver and evaluate the joint visiting through the early days of embedding innovation in practice, with the aim of further developing the potential of the Greater Manchester Early Years delivery model and extending learning beyond Stockport into other boroughs in the region.

Sarah Cattan, Mission director for A Fairer Start, said:

"Our work on the joint visiting model in Stockport highlights the critical importance of integration in early years services. Developed in partnership with practitioners and families, this approach introduced a meaningful way to understand systemic challenges and co-design service innovations to foster collaboration amongst professionals and build trust with families. By using a test-and-learn process, we brought together design and data science methods, rigorously tested our hypotheses, adapted the model to better meet the needs of both parents and practitioners, and evaluated our findings. Getting this right is vital because a parent’s journey is profoundly shaped by the professionals they meet, and their willingness to engage is often influenced by how services are designed, implemented and adapted to meet family needs. We hope the lessons of this work inspire others to prioritise holistic, family-centred approaches that create lasting impact for the communities and families we work with."

Findings and recommendations

Through our mixed-methods evaluation, we found that introducing joint visiting helped practitioners identify family needs earlier, improve the support on offer, particularly for complex cases, and improve parent confidence in the antenatal period. It led to:

• Better engagement: Practitioners and families appreciate the coordinated approach and information sharing. Families feel it’s an improvement to the services they receive and are reassured by having clear roles and responsibilities.
• Building trust: Joint visits help foster trust and relationship building between practitioners and families, which enables a more robust assessment of need and elevates the voice of families and the infant in planning for care.
• Sharing expertise: Practitioners appreciated the joint training and reflective networking opportunities developed through implementation. Joint visiting with families enabled practitioners to draw on each other’s expertise to put in place appropriate support for families.
• Prevention and timely intervention: By joint visiting in the antenatal period, practitioners can build trusting relationships with parents, holistically identify their needs and put in place support as early as possible. Parents noted they felt less anxious about their upcoming birth knowing that they would be supported by a health visitor beginning during pregnancy.

To learn more about the joint visiting service innovation, read the Executive summary of the evaluation.