Global Parenting Programs - Workforce Development & Quality of Delivery

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Frontline workers who deliver parenting programmes in low- and middle-income countries are receiving more attention given their centrality in determining its effectiveness. This workforce varies considerably from professionals, to paraprofessionals, and volunteers. The differences are mainly in background education, status within the system, workload, and pay. Consequently, the amount of time spent on basic training and the frequency of refresher training may differ. So too will the method of teaching content and delivery skills. Parenting programmes proliferate as a result of wide dissemination of the World Health Organization's Nurturing Care Framework (2018), its adoption by all countries attending the World Health Assembly, and Early Childhood Development Guidelines to support responsive care and early learning opportunities around the world (WHO 2020).

This panel consists of presentations from three programs operating across multiple low- and middle-income countries. The presentations give insights into not only how organizations are training a diverse workforce, but also how they are assessing the quality of training and delivery. Such assessments are critical so programmes can identify barriers to effective delivery and subsequently make improvements. They are also critical for governments who intend to adopt and adapt an existing programme; the Ministry of Health can plan ahead for the needs of their workforce. The panel is timely, given the stated intention of many governments to implement a parenting programme through their health system.

The presentations are made by three organizations well known for their efforts to implement and evaluate parenting programmes. Because they function in different settings with different demands, some focus on playful parenting within existing communities, while others focus mainly on families in refugee settings. Regardless, they include components of play, communication, and reduction of violence against children through positive discipline. Together, they cover several steps in the training and monitoring of a workforce: from the basic initial training of the workforce which may last 1 or 2 weeks, to subsequent refresher trainings that provide mentoring and help to maintain quality, and finally to monitoring the actual delivery. More importantly, they address how each of these steps is measured.

The first presentation is made by FHI360 who are assessing the implementation of playful parenting programmes in four countries: Bhutan, Rwanda, Zambia, and Serbia. An observational tool to assess training in each site must be flexible in order to capture variations in the curriculum, the home vs group delivery format, and the status of the workforce (professional in Serbia, paraprofessional in Bhutan, volunteer in Rwanda and Zambia). Still, the method of teaching/learning both content and delivery skills needs to be active, to give the trainees time to engage with the new material.

The second presentation is made by Parenting for Lifelong Health which is being implemented in Africa and South-eastern Europe. They focus on an observational tool to assess delivery of the program during home visits. Their tool focuses on how key activities are implemented, and how new skills are communicated to families. Psychometric properties of the two subscales show promise in sites where they have been evaluated.
The third presentation is made by World Vision who are working with locals to implement a playful parenting program to refugee families in Rwanda. Their workforce consists of refugee and neighboring village adults. Consequently, their goals are to have wide dissemination of playful parenting skills in both refugee and host communities. They are also comparing high-dose and low-dose home and group sessions, which may require different training needs.

Together, the three presentations cover different countries, with different programs, and a different workforce. However, the thread running through all of them is the need to develop a solid training approach and a rigorous method to observe the training process, its quality and its effectiveness.

Sub Unit

• Early Childhood Development SIG

Chair

• Carina Omoeva, FHI 360

Individual Presentations

• Measuring Workforce Training for the Delivery of Playful Parenting Programs - Frances Aboud, McGill University; Carina Omoeva, FHI 360

• Reliability and Validity of the FAT: An Implementation Measure used to Assess the Competent Adherence of Parenting for Lifelong Health Facilitators - Mackenzie Martin

• Care & Comfort for Children, a Playful Parenting Program for Refugees in Rwanda - Mediatrice Uwera, International NGO

Discussant

• jill popp, LEGO Foundation