Benefits of a course in behavioural analysis for health visitors.

Twenty-four health visitors participated in a 12-week course in behavioural intervention methods for work with children with behavioural difficulties. Each health visitor identified a family with child behavioural problems and worked with this family while attending the weekly training sessions. The course was run in 1998/99 and in 2000/01 for 12 health visitors. The 1998/99 trainees established a control group by identifying a second family experiencing similar difficulties. These families received the standard service for the same duration as the course. After the course, all health visitors demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge of behavioural techniques. Significant improvements were seen in measures of child behaviour and maternal mental health for both groups of intervention families, compared with non-significant improvements in the control families. The course's success in giving health visitors the skills and practice to develop effective behavioural strategies in work with child behavioural problems is also discussed.