Home health visitors show promise for moms and kids in rural south africa

NCT ID NCT03517878

Disease control Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study tested whether trained community health workers visiting pregnant women at home could improve health for both mothers and children in a rural area of South Africa. The program focused on supporting women with HIV, depression, or alcohol use, and on improving child growth and development. Researchers compared 1,490 women in areas with the program to those without, tracking outcomes like breastfeeding, HIV treatment, and child weight for one year after birth.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: community health worker home visits
What this could lead to: If successful, this program could offer a low-cost way to improve health for mothers and children in rural areas, especially for HIV, depression, and malnutrition.
What could go wrong: This is an early-phase, non-randomized study with a small number of areas, so results may not apply broadly. The intervention is complex and depends on local community workers.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Participants

1,490 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

Aug 2014

Finished

Jun 2018

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Who is studied

Cohorts include all women meeting inclusion criteria from the catchment areas surrounding four clinics in the rural Eastern Cape.

Ages

0 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Accepted

You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Pregnant women who are or become mothers living in the catchment area at the time of recruitment * Women not identified as psychotic or delusional based on the interviewer's judgment * Women able to provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Inability to give informed consent * Inability to converse with the interviewer or the CHW * Miscarriage or stillbirth * Death of the infant * Death of the mother

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

AIDS alcohol abuse Alcohol Drinking Breast Feeding Child Nutrition Disorders Depression depressive disorder fetal growth restriction hereditary endocrine growth disease HIV infectious disease nutritional deficiency disease nutritional disorder

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Alcohol drinking Alcohol use disorder Alcohol; harmful use Birth weight less than 10TH percentile Child development Child malnutrition Child nutrition disorders Depression Depressive symptoms HIV infections HIV/AIDS Stunting

Home health visitors show promise for moms and kids in rural south africa

What the study statuses mean