Our approach

Our Approach

The GPI is constructed out of six interlocking bricks or themes:

Undertaking rigorous evaluation and implementation research studies to increase the evidence of the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and scalability of human-digital playful parenting programmes. We aim to rapidly advance the evidence and transferability of the PLH digital and hybrid playful parenting programmes across diverse populations in Africa and Asia. 
The GPI features nine current and upcoming research-within-implementation studies in South Africa, Tanzania, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Uganda:

Studies looking at effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of programmes:

  • ParentText Optimisation and Evaluation in South Africa
  • ParentApp for Kids (pregnancy – 9 years) in Tanzania
  • ParentApp for Teens (10-17 years) in Tanzania
  • Parenting in Displacement in Thailand/Myanmar
  • Parenting within the Preschool System in Malaysia       

Studies looking at implementation within existing systems at scale:

  • Parenting within the Social Welfare System in the Philippines 
  • Parenting within the Public Health System in Thailand
  • Parenting for Respectability (PfR)-Digital in Uganda
  • Systems Testing of the Entire PLH Human-Digital Package within the Health Sector in South Africa
map

Building a cohesive ecosystem of agile, adaptable, and scalable evidence-based human-digital parenting interventions, by developing and optimising parenting support technologies:

  • Continued development and innovation of PLH digital programmes
  • Co-design of ParentApp for Facilitators
  • Co-design of ParentApp for Early Years (prenatal to 9 years)
  • Creation of a centralised repository for PLH digital content
  • Creation of tools for data management and analysis, and for adaptation and localisation
  • Development of a Playful Parenting Coding System through machine learning

Creating centres of excellence in playful parenting in the Global South with a cohort of leading professorial researchers from and working in low-resource countries, and shifting expertise, leadership, and power from the Global North to South:

  • Creating relevant communities of practice to enable shared learning amongst the wider field of implementers, researchers, and policymakers engaged in playful parenting, child learning and violence prevention.
  • Establishing online research sharing hubs linking researchers around the globe and serving as an open repository of scientific materials (e.g., published papers, datasets).
  • Capacity-building of early- and mid-career researchers to nurture the current and next generation of local research leadership in child learning and child abuse prevention, especially in the Global South.
  • Creating a network for early career researchers (mainly from the Global South), including mentorship from senior GPI researchers, networking opportunities, and training on research methods and uptake. 
  • Developing Regional Playful Parenting Research Hubs in Southeast Asia and Africa.
  • Supporting existing national capacity sharing structures to ensure the successful uptake of playful parenting programmes and support research and institutional sustainability.

Collaboratively advocating for a policy environment on the regional and country-level to support the sustained institutionalisation of parenting programmes:

  • Working with the Global Initiative to Support Parents (GISP) - UNICEF, WHO, PLH, the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, and ECDAN - and other partners to build a policy environment at the regional, country, and international-level to support playful parenting programmes.
  • Empowering senior and early career academics from the Global South to lead on advocacy efforts as part of research uptake strategies on national, regional, and international levels.
  • Engaging with parents as beneficiaries and advocates – getting their input right from the start! The team will also engage with the private sector to integrate parenting within business.
  • Launching a comprehensive communications strategy to enhance the reach of messaging around human-digital playful parenting (including social media, TV, radio, print and in-person activities).

Creating a sustainable infrastructure to support scale-up and capacity building of PLH human-digital parenting programmes, including through the creation of a PLH Social Enterprise to support the ongoing sustainability of GPI.

Scaling-up PLH human-digital parenting programmes and embedding them into national government and NGO service delivery systems.