1. Characteristics of interventions showing diversity of services.

Study	Study settings	Type of illness ‐ intervention	Hours Available	No. visits possible	Staff Qualifications	Information provided
Burke 1997	Queen's University, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Children with chronic conditions ‐ stress‐point intervention for parents	Not reported. Direct phone contact with nurse related to 'stressors' rather than clinical events.	Not reported.	"master's prepared nurse".	Mailed summaries and reminders of families own stress points and coping strategies.
Dougherty 1998	The Montreal Children's Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Newly diagnosed children with IDDM ‐ Home based treatment	24 hour telephone consultation.	Home visits once/twice daily for first 2 ‐ 3 days, teaching visit at clinic after 2 weeks, follow‐up outpatient visits at 2 ‐ 3 months.	Diabetes treatment nurse, as part of a team of diabetes‐specialist physician, psychologist and social worker.	Teaching session, instruction and supervision in practical and theoretical aspects of treatment.
Sartain 2001	Arrow Park Hospital, Upton, Wirral, UK	Acute illness (breathing difficulty, diarrhoea and vomiting or fever) ‐ Hospital at home scheme treatment	24 hours, 7 days. Service until 2300, on‐call overnight.	1 ‐ 4 daily	Not specified. Participants under care of hospital consultants.	Patient information booklets detailing possible course of illness, signs and symptoms of potential deterioration, appropriate treatment, contact information.
Stein 1984	Paediatric Ambulatory Care Division, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York	Heterogenous group of children with chronic illnesses ‐ Paediatric home care	Not specified.	Minimum package: initial home visit, one contact (by person or by telephone) each month for 6 months. Most participants received more.	Team of generalist paediatricians, paediatric nurse practitioners and social worker.	"Teach child and family about condition and train them in self‐care skills".
Stevens 2006	University of Toronto and Sick Kid's Hospital, Toronto, Canada	Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia ‐ Home chemotherapy	Not specified.	Home visits for administration of chemotherapy as per the protocol.	Trained nurse from a community health services agency administered chemotherapy, routine contact by community nurse to the oncologist if concerns.	Parents encouraged to contact primary nurse at the oncology clinic at the hospital as required
Strawczynski 1973	The Montreal Children's Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Management of bleeding in hemophilic children	24‐hour service when incident (bleeding in children with haemophilia) occurred.	Not specified.	Specially trained nurse.	No educational intervention reported.
Tie 2009	Department of General Paediatrics, Princess Margaret Hospital for children, Perth, Western Australia	Acute bronchiolitis ‐ home oxygen therapy	Not specified	"Hospital in the home (HiTH)" nurse home visit within 12 hours of hospital discharge, minimum of 2 home visits, one phone contact with parents in every 24‐hour period.	Not specified.	Parents were educated on home oxygen use and instructed on how to observe their children for signs of clinical deterioration.