Adapting Reach Up and Learn for Families Affected by Conflict and Crisis in the Middle East

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Tuesday I)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Nurturing care framework: lessons learned from developing and adapting integrated ECD programs

Proposal

Children 0-3 in humanitarian response settings face an accumulation of adversities that pose an immediate and long-term threat to their health, cognitive and socio-emotional wellbeing. Programs targeting parents and caregivers of young children that promote playful, responsive parenting and nurturing care have been found to have significant positive effects on children’s developmental outcomes across diverse contexts and service delivery platforms (Britto, et al., 2017). Among the most widely cited example of a parenting program designed for low and middle income contexts is the Reach Up and Learn program, a home visiting program designed to promote cognitive stimulation among growth-stunted babies and toddlers in Jamaica. Follow-up studies with participants after 20 years have demonstrated significant, long-term increases (25%) in adult earnings, reductions in violence and improved health (Gertler et al., 2014; Walker, et al., 2010). The Reach Up and Learn model has been adapted successfully to contexts in Bangladesh, Peru, Colombia and the Caribbean. In response to the growing global humanitarian need, for the first time the model was adapted for caregivers affected by the Syrian crisis in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria by the International Rescue Committee with the support and guidance of the original creators of the Jamaican home visiting program. Currently the program reaches nearly 2,000 children ages 0-3 in the Syria Response region with high-quality home visiting services integrated within three different service delivery platforms: early childhood education (preschools) in Lebanon, community health services in Jordan, and protection services in Jordan and Syria.
Methods
Methods for adaptation include: 1) Consultations with program managers on operational feasibility across health, education and child protection delivery platforms; 2) Working with a team of Jordanian illustrators and refugee artists in Azraq camp as well as extensive review by the Reach Up and Learn team to adapt the books and pictures to the context while retaining the same narrative and developmentally appropriate content; 3) Identification of locally available recyclable toy making materials; 4) Translation of the curricula from English to Arabic and technical review by Syrian and Lebanese ECD technical experts; and 5) Incorporation of additional content on child safeguarding into the training. A caregiver questionnaire including items from the Caregiver Reported Early Development Index (CREDI) and a Home Visit Observation and Supervision checklist are currently being used to monitor and evaluate fidelity of the adapted intervention.
Results
The presentation will: 1) Review the process of adaptation, including knowledge gathering with local staff and stakeholders, program delivery planning, development of context-specific program materials and tools, and measuring program effectiveness; 2) Identify lessons learned through the process; 3) Provide guidance for the future adaptations of the intervention 4) Share initial results of the monitoring and evaluation of the program, which show a high-level of both fidelity and community acceptance.

Authors

• Katelin Wilton, IRC

• Katie Maeve Murphy, International Rescue Committee

• Iman Ibrahim, IRC

• Anas Tahhan, IRC

• Ayat al Aqra, IRC

• Ghassan Issa, Arab Resource Collective

• Susan Walker, University of the West Indies, Jamaica

• Christine Powell, University of the West Indies, Jamaica