Guelph Family Health Study (GFHS)

Not an evidence-based model
More information below

Not MIECHV eligible

39

Manuscripts

Released in 2003 through 2023

2

Manuscripts

Impact studies rated high or moderate quality

Services intended at ages
12-23 months
24-35 months
36-47 months
48+ months
Favorable results from well-defined research
No favorable effects found

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The Guelph Family Health Study (GFHS) model aims to help families establish healthy routines related to eating, physical activity, sleep, and screen time. The intervention serves families with children between the ages of 18 months and 5 years who live Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. The GFHS is designed to increase fruit and vegetable intake, replace sugar-sweetened beverages with water, promote family meals, reduce screen time, encourage physical activity, and establish a bedtime routine to promote adequate sleep. Health educators deliver the intervention through four home visits that are scheduled four to six weeks apart. During visits, the health educators encourage families to set behavior change goals and help them address barriers to achieving those goals. Families also receive weekly emails and monthly gifts, such as a bedtime storybook, that are tailored to support their goals.

Where to find out more

Effectiveness

This model does not meet criteria established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for an evidence-based home visiting model because findings from high- or moderate-rated effectiveness studies of the model do not demonstrate favorable (statistically significant) impacts in at least two outcome domains within one sample OR the same domain for at least two non-overlapping samples.

Does not meet criteria for an evidence-based home visiting model for Indigenous peoples and communities.

Extent of Evidence

For more information about manuscripts, search the research database.

For more information on the criteria used to rate research, please see details of HomVEEʼs methods and standards.

39

Manuscripts

Released in 2003 through 2023

6

Manuscripts

Eligible for review

2

Manuscripts

Impact studies rated high or moderate quality

When an individual manuscript reports findings from multiple studies, HomVEE reviews each study as a distinct manuscript. In these rare instances, HomVEE counts that manuscript multiple times in this table, once for each study identified, screened, and reviewed by HomVEE.

Summary of Findings

To see details on each manuscript HomVEE reviewed in well-designed research, click on the manuscript counts in the table.

Favorable:
A finding showing a statistically significant impact on an outcome measure in a direction that is beneficial for children and parents.

No effect:
Findings are not statistically significant.

Unfavorable:
A finding showing a statistically significant impact on an outcome measure in a direction that may indicate potential harm to children and/or parents.

Ambiguous findings are excluded from this table. An ambiguous finding is a statistically significant impact on an outcome measure in a direction that is not clearly beneficial for or potentially harmful to children and/or parents.

Outcomes Manuscripts Favorable Findings No Effects Findings Unfavorable Findings
Child development and school readiness Not measured - - -
Child health Not measured - - -
Family economic self-sufficiency Not measured - - -
Linkages and referrals Not measured - - -
Maternal health View 1 Manuscript 0 4 0
Positive parenting practices View 2 Manuscripts 0 3 0
Reductions in child maltreatment Not measured - - -
Reductions in juvenile delinquency, family violence, and crime Not measured - - -

Research Characteristics

Well-designed impact studies about this model included participants with the following characteristics. The evidence for effectiveness for the model may include additional studies that did not report this participant information.

Race/Ethnicity

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if Hispanic ethnicity was reported separately or respondents could select two or more race or ethnicity categories.

White
80%
Unknown
20%

Maternal Education

Data not available

Other Characteristics

Data not available

Well-designed impact studies about this model were conducted in the following locations:

International Locations
Canada

Implementation

In this section:

Overview

Theoretical approach, intended population, and targeted outcomes.

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Support Availability

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Service Delivery

Model services, adaptions and enhancements, model intensity and length.

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Requirements

Staffing and organizational requirements.

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Overview

Theoretical approach

The Guelph Family Health Study (GFHS) model aims to prevent obesity by helping families living in Canada establish healthy routines for eating, physical activity, sleep, and screen time. The GFHS model is based on Healthy Habits, Happy Homes, a home-based obesity prevention demonstration project in the United States. The GFHS is also informed by Family Systems Theory (FST) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT). FST posits that families are systems of interconnected and interdependent individuals who must be understood and considered as a system rather than as individuals. Thus, the GFHS is designed to influence household routines by using a whole-family, home-based approach. SDT posits that self-motivated behavior change is more likely than change motivated by external factors to result in lasting change. To promote families’ internal motivation to change their health behaviors, the GFHS model uses motivational interviewing (MI)—a collaborative, client-centered counseling technique designed to increase the likelihood of successful behavior change by providing families with a sense of autonomy, confidence, and support with respect to goals that families set for themselves.

Intended population

To participate in the study, families must have at least one child between the ages of 18 months and 5 years; live in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada, with no plans to move in the following year; and have at least one parent able to respond to surveys in English.

Targeted outcomes

The model aims to increase fruit and vegetable intake, replace sugar-sweetened beverages with water, promote family meals, reduce screen time, encourage physical activity, and establish a bedtime routine to promote adequate sleep.

Highlights

Services intended at ages
12-23 months
24-35 months
36-47 months
48+ months

Support Availability

Implementation support availability

The GFHS is an ongoing demonstration project that is examining a home-based obesity prevention intervention designed by researchers from the University of Guelph in Canada. 

Please contact the model developer about support available to replicate the model.

Highlights

Locations where model has been implemented
Internationally, outside the U.S.

Service Delivery

Model services

GFHS services include home visits, weekly emails with tailored information about lifestyle goals (as identified by each family), and monthly mailed gifts, such as a bedtime storybook, to support those goals.

During the initial home visit, home visitors (referred to as health educators) describe the behavioral goals of the intervention. Families then rate how satisfied they are with their current routines and behaviors from 1 (very unsatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied) using a health behavior wheel that lists each of the target health behavior goals. Health educators then ask families if they want to set any behavior change goals. If they do, health educators use MI techniques to help families identify the steps necessary to achieve their desired goals and then discuss possible challenges to reaching those goals and solutions to address them. The health educators also ask families if they would like to receive emails to check on their progress as a form of accountability. To facilitate behavior self-monitoring, the health educators provide a family routine tracker, where families can record their behaviors and factors that help or discourage changing their behaviors.

For families that set behavioral goals, health educators review and discuss the families’ progress as well as possible solutions to identified challenges during follow-up visits. In addition to home visits, families receive a series of emails and mailed gifts tailored to their goals, such as colorful plates to encourage more family meals or children’s books to encourage regular sleep routines.

If families do not set a behavior change goal during the first visit, the health educators ask them to again rate their satisfaction with their current routines and behaviors at follow-up home visits. Then the health educators ask if the families want to set any behavior change goals. Families who do not set behavior change goals receive weekly emails and mailed gifts on a standardized schedule. 

Please contact the model developer for information about the curriculum used during service delivery.

Model intensity and length

Health educators conduct four home visits with families over six months. Visits are scheduled about four to six weeks apart, based on a family’s schedule. 

Initial home visits typically last one hour. Follow-up home visits typically last 30 to 60 minutes.

Adaptations and enhancements

Please contact the model developer for information about adaptations or enhancements to the model.

Highlights

Maximum program duration
One to six months
Visit frequency
Visit frequency varies
Delivery Method Supported
Supports in-person service delivery only

Requirements

Staffing requirements

Health educators are graduate students and registered dietitians with at least one year of counseling experience. 

Please contact the model developer for information about supervision for the health educators. 

The health educators participate in a two-day training on motivational interviewing and complete two practice sessions before conducting home visits. Please contact the model developer for information about the pre-service and ongoing professional development requirements.

Organizational requirements

The University of Guelph oversees and supports implementation of the model. 

The health educators administer the home visits according to the study protocol. Please contact the model developer for information about the model’s fidelity guidelines.

Highlights

Minimum education requirement
Master’s degree
Professional certification required for home visitors
No

HomVEE requests input and feedback from the model developers on their profiles. The information in this implementation profile reflects feedback, if provided, from this model’s developer as of the above date. HomVEE reserves the right to edit the profile for clarity and consistency. The description of the implementation of the model(s) here may differ from how the model(s) was implemented in the manuscripts reviewed to determine this model’s evidence of effectiveness. Model developers are encouraged to notify HomVEE of any changes to their contact information on this page.