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Review

Home Visiting Interventions and Their Impact on Mental Health, Psychosocial, and Parenting Practice Outcomes of Vulnerable Caregivers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

by
Sara Cibralic
1,2,*,
Wengtong Wu
1,
Bright Opoku Ahinkorah
1,2,
Christa Lam-Cassettari
1,2,
Susan Woolfenden
3,4,
Jane Kohlhoff
1,5,
Rebekah Grace
6,
Lynn Kemp
7,
Patrice Johnson
8,
Elisabeth Murphy
8,
April Deering
8,
Shanti Raman
1,8 and
Valsamma Eapen
1,2
1
Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia
2
Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry (AUCS), South Western Sydney Local Health District & Ingham Institute, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
3
Community Paediatrics, Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
4
Central Clinical School, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
5
Karitane, Carramar, NSW 2163, Australia
6
TeEACH Strategic Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Bankstown, NSW 2200, Australia
7
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Bankstown, NSW 2200, Australia
8
Health and Social Policy Branch, New South Wales Ministry of Health, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23(1), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010063
Submission received: 3 October 2025 / Revised: 15 December 2025 / Accepted: 23 December 2025 / Published: 31 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Behavioral and Mental Health)
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Abstract

Past reviews have found home visiting interventions to be successful at improving caregiver outcomes. Though, no review has looked specifically at the effect of home visiting interventions on caregivers with high vulnerability and complex needs. This review aimed to examine and synthesis the literature on the impact of home visiting programs administered to caregivers with young children, high vulnerability and complex needs by professionals/paraprofessionals. Interdisciplinary databases, reference lists, and the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness database were searched for articles that fit the inclusion criteria. Together searches resulted in a total of 623 articles, 34 of these articles were included in the final review, all from high-income countries. Twenty-five interventions were implemented across the 34 studies. Findings showed that these interventions were effective at improving a range of mental health, parenting, and family violence outcomes in caregivers with high vulnerability and complex needs. However, weighted mean standardized effect sizes ranged from 0.01–0.24 (small effect), with only one (i.e., practical parenting skills) of the five significantly different from 0 (standardized mean difference 0.24; 95% CI: 0.10, 0.38; z = 3.39, p = 0.00) and results favoring the control group. Missing information together with considerable variation in interventions, meant that identifying a clear pattern in treatment components that lead to effective verses non-effective interventions was not possible. Further research is therefore needed to assess the effectiveness of these interventions. Trial registration: The University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (PROSPERO) registration number CRD42023460366.
Keywords: home visiting interventions; caregiver outcomes; mental health; psychosocial outcomes; intervention effectiveness; systematic review; meta-analysis home visiting interventions; caregiver outcomes; mental health; psychosocial outcomes; intervention effectiveness; systematic review; meta-analysis

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MDPI and ACS Style

Cibralic, S.; Wu, W.; Ahinkorah, B.O.; Lam-Cassettari, C.; Woolfenden, S.; Kohlhoff, J.; Grace, R.; Kemp, L.; Johnson, P.; Murphy, E.; et al. Home Visiting Interventions and Their Impact on Mental Health, Psychosocial, and Parenting Practice Outcomes of Vulnerable Caregivers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23, 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010063

AMA Style

Cibralic S, Wu W, Ahinkorah BO, Lam-Cassettari C, Woolfenden S, Kohlhoff J, Grace R, Kemp L, Johnson P, Murphy E, et al. Home Visiting Interventions and Their Impact on Mental Health, Psychosocial, and Parenting Practice Outcomes of Vulnerable Caregivers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2026; 23(1):63. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010063

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cibralic, Sara, Wengtong Wu, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah, Christa Lam-Cassettari, Susan Woolfenden, Jane Kohlhoff, Rebekah Grace, Lynn Kemp, Patrice Johnson, Elisabeth Murphy, and et al. 2026. "Home Visiting Interventions and Their Impact on Mental Health, Psychosocial, and Parenting Practice Outcomes of Vulnerable Caregivers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 23, no. 1: 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010063

APA Style

Cibralic, S., Wu, W., Ahinkorah, B. O., Lam-Cassettari, C., Woolfenden, S., Kohlhoff, J., Grace, R., Kemp, L., Johnson, P., Murphy, E., Deering, A., Raman, S., & Eapen, V. (2026). Home Visiting Interventions and Their Impact on Mental Health, Psychosocial, and Parenting Practice Outcomes of Vulnerable Caregivers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(1), 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010063

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