Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effectiveness of Family Navigation for Low-income Ethnoracially Diverse Preschoolers with Developmental Concern

To assess for feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of an ethnoracially-matched family navigation intervention aimed at reducing barriers to developmental evaluations for preschoolers with developmental concern attending Head Start. Fifty-eight parents of Head Start preschoolers who were identified as at risk for developmental delay were assigned using stratified block random sampling to the family navigation intervention (n = 28) and 30 controls (usual care). Key outcomes included the percentage of children who completed the planned intervention visits, satisfaction with the intervention, and the proportion of children guided by family navigators who completed developmental evaluations. Of the 28 families, 21 parents completed the family navigation intervention visits. The intervention sample was diverse, including 57% Black, 24% White, and 19% Latino(a) parents. Ninety percent of Head Start educators (n = 18) and 100% of healthcare providers (n = 6) were satisfied with the intervention. Parents qualitatively reported that they valued the advocacy support from the family navigators and navigators (n = 7) valued their role in "giving back." Sixty-six percent of the intervention group were seen by a healthcare provider to discuss developmental concerns showing preliminary effectiveness for completion of healthcare evaluations. However, there was no significant difference between those in the intervention and control group completing Head Start recommended evaluations, and over half of all participants were not referred for educational evaluations. Results support the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of an ethnoracially matched family navigation intervention to reduce barriers to developmental healthcare evaluations for preschoolers at risk for developmental delays. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03499405; Date of Registration: April 9, 2018.