Home Visiting Programs to Improve Early Childhood Development and Maternal Mental Health

This study evaluates the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of two platforms for delivering home visiting programs in the poor urban setting of Sao Paulo's western region: a program delivered by a newly trained cadre of Child Development Agents, and a program delivered by Community Health Agents employed by the government as part of the Family Health Strategy (ESF). The program will randomly select 400 mother-child dyads to follow a curriculum that is currently being adapted to the local context. The primary outcome of the program will be cognitive development for children aged 9 to 15 months old at baseline (21-27 months at endline) The secondary outcomes will include child physical development as well as maternal mental health.