Family Spirit is an evidence-based home visiting program developed for and with Indigenous communities. Developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health in partnership with tribal communities, Family Spirit optimizes local cultural assets and resources. The Family Spirit Program is an evidence-based and culturally tailored home visiting intervention delivered by community-based Health Educators as an Indigenous solution to supporting caregivers during pregnancy and early childhood. Caregivers gain knowledge and skills to achieve optimum development for their children across the domains of physical, cognitive, social-emotional, language learning, and self-help. The Family Spirit Core Curriculum consists of 65 lessons taught from pregnancy to age 3. Additional curriculum modules address emerging needs and specific family circumstances, including: lessons through age 5 (Family Spirit Thrive); content specific to infant feeding and family nutrition (Family Spirit Nurture); content to support caregiver mental health (Family Spirit Strengths); content to promote early childhood language development (+Language is Medicine).
About
Family Spirit Program
The Family Spirit program aims to:
Increase parenting knowledge and skills;
Address maternal psychosocial risks that could interfere with positive child-rearing
Promote optimal physical, cognitive, social/emotional development for children from 0 to 3
Prepare children for early school success;
Ensure children get recommended well-child visits and health care
Link families to community services to address specific needs
Promote parents’ and children’s life skills and behavioral outcomes across the lifespan
Join the Family Spirit Network
