Overview
ParentApp for Kids is a project to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of a digital application on responsive caregiving and child development. This multi-phase study aims to develop ParentApp for Kids for caregivers of 5- to 9-year- olds and assess its feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness on responsive caregiving and child learning.
Following an extended and intensive process of work to design ParentApp for Kids, the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) launched the first version of the app in a pilot study in November 2024. Due to a revised timeline that resulted from a longer app development process, a decision was made to separate research and intervention piloting phases. In addition, the scope of the pilot was narrowed to focus on four modules instead of the original eight planned, with further piloting due to commence in early 2025. In addition to the core project, formative co-design workshops on ParentApp for Babies have taken place, with further work to develop the intervention theory of change and implementation framework planned for mid-2025.
Context
Supporting caregivers to foster nurturing, playful relationships with their children is an important strategy to mitigate developmental risks and promote positive outcomes for children. New modes of reaching and supporting caregivers are essential for when traditional face-to-face parenting programmes are not available. As smart phones are becoming increasingly commonly used in low and middle-income countries, there is a growing opportunity to use digital applications to provide caregivers with information, guidance, and support in caregiving. Importantly, by targeting a broad age range from pregnancy to 9 years old, we hope to develop a tool that can sustain support for caregivers beyond the first 1000 days, and into middle and late childhood.
Objectives
Develop a digital parenting application, ParentApp, for use by caregivers from pregnancy to age 9 years, to improve responsive caregiving and child development.
Develop and pilot a new measure to assess caregiver responsiveness in caregiver-child interactions that can be administered and scored remotely.
Assess feasibility and acceptability of ParentApp with caregivers of children in three age ranges (third trimester of pregnancy-9months; 9months-4years; 4years-9years). This will be conducted using a feasibility randomised controlled trial in each age group.
Determine the preliminary effectiveness of ParentApp in improving responsive caregiving and selected child development outcomes.
Study Setting
Tanzania has a high prevalence of children at risk of poor development, with 70% of children being considered at risk according to population-level estimates. There are high rates of poverty, and the national literacy rate among those aged 15-49 is 77% among women and 83% among men.These are important risks to child development, as they can affect caregiving capacity, and limit opportunities for early stimulation and access to education.
Study Significance and Impact
Evidence from this study will inform the potential for a low-cost scale up of a digital parenting application that has broad and sustained impact.
