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Tuesday 9 February 2016

Family nurse partnerships

"Through powers to control all aspects of Scotland’s future we can do much more (to) improve the health and wellbeing of the nation."

"The Family Nurse Partnership programme is an intensive, preventive, one-to-one home visiting programme for young, first time mothers from early pregnancy until their child reaches two. It was developed in America, by Professor David Olds, and is delivered in this country under licence. Scottish Ministers hold the licence for the programme in Scotland." [Forget TTIP]


"More babies born to young mothers will have a healthier start to life as the Scottish Government’s Family Nurse Partnership expands."
"Since the programme began in January 2010 it has supported more than three thousand teenage mothers, with very high rates of engagement and low numbers leaving the programme."

On the face of it, I would not object to a `little bit of extra support` for vulnerable teenage mothers who are happy to engage with the programme. I would only worry about the impact of the incoming Named Person scheme on the nature of `voluntary` support.

However, the next statement is a worry:

  
"From April 2016 it will also be offered to eligible 20-24 year olds, with further adaptations [my emphasis] rolled out over the course of the year thanks to a funding commitment of £10.7 million in 2016/17."
"In rolling out FNP, we will work closely with stakeholders to ensure that we plan this expansion taking account of our commitment to have 500 additional health visitors."..

So as well as having a vital role in the Named Person scheme, health visitors and their new recruits are going to take part in an expanded Family Nurse Partnership programme  - that is if shortages can be overcome. Whatever, they are going to be very busy people.

There is a lot to criticise about this programme but here are two concerns;

(1) A priority of the programme is that parents need to get out to work - cleaning offices, shelf stacking, it matters little, because that is their most important role - the state will take care of their children. (2) Another aim is that after FNP involvement there will be fewer subsequent births and greater intervals between births. The message is clear: `Get to work and stop breeding.  Scotland`s future depends on it. `

This is to happen in a country whose birth rate cannot sustain the population.

If that is not Agenda 21 population control, I don`t know what is.
 


And finally: 
"The findings from the recent Randomised Controlled Trial in England looked at a range of outcomes relating to both mother and child. These were on short term outcomes, which were not the primary or only reason for bringing FNP to Scotland. Longer term child development, safeguarding and parental lifecourse outcomes are just as important to us."
 
The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is untested in the long term but why should that worry the Scottish Government ? 
"The aim is to develop and test a model which will still offer a clear, evidence based structure and retain the many strengths of FNP the RCT pointed to, including the powerful engagement between family nurses and vulnerable families... " [Yes, when it was voluntary, but for how long?]
 
This is pitifully bad science. The aim of science is to test hypotheses. No random controlled test should start out with the aim of backing a political dogma. Any evidence that science might provide on that basis should be discredited.

http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Family-Nurse-Partnership-2248.aspx

Ideas of racial and class inferiority have a very long history.

Beware. The BBC4 documentary The Eugenics of Social Darwinism contains very disturbing material.

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