Orphaned children can do just as well in institutions

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/du-occ082614.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 27-Aug-2014

Contact: Kyle Hamilton
Duke University
Orphaned children can do just as well in institutions
Drive to eliminate institutional care not supported by evidence

DURHAM, N.C. -- The removal of institutions or group homes will not lead to better child well-being and could even worsen outcomes for some orphaned and separated children, according to new findings from a three-year study across five low- and middle-income countries.

Children in institutions are as healthy and, in some ways, healthier than those in family-based care, according to the study, which was led by Kathryn Whetten, a Duke professor of public policy and director of the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research (CHPIR).

In the largest and most geographically and culturally diverse study of its kind, Duke researchers found there is great variation in how much children's well-being improves over time. The type of residential setting, either institution- or family-dwelling, was a poor predictor of change.

The study found that stronger predictors of child well-being were country, neighborhood or community, and differences in psychosocial characteristics such as age, gender, baseline emotional and nutritional status, and life course events.

Researchers also found that children in group homes were more likely to have their basic needs met.

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