Implementation of the factorial trial in Mpumalanga, South Africa continues to progress well. Approximately 85% and 92% of caregivers in the programme have completed baseline and post-test surveys, respectively. Focus group discussions were held with participants in two of the districts recruited from and with the facilitators who delivered the intervention. The data management team is actively cleaning and preparing quantitative data for cost-effectiveness and effectiveness evaluations. Data cleaning is expected to be completed in early 2024 with preliminary findings anticipated in April/May 2024.
ParentText Updates
ParentText is a chatbot parenting intervention delivered through popular communication channels users trust: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and SMS. The chatbot delivers evidence-based parenting support from Parenting for Lifelong Health, UNICEF, Helping Adolescents Thrive, and other parenting interventions that aim to reduce violence against children and improve child wellbeing. ParentText can easily be adapted to national parenting guidelines for local cultures and contexts. ParentText can be delivered as a standalone intervention or in a hybrid format, augmented within the PLH solutions ecosystem including WhatsApp support groups or in-person sessions.
2024
Following preliminary analyses, quantitative findings from the ParentText Optimisation Trial were presented at the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect conference in August. Key findings include a large positive overall change across all caregiver and adolescent report outcomes, including positive parenting, adolescent and parental mental health and parent support of education. In addition, in September the team expects to finalise the first draft of a qualitative analysis based on focus groups with parents and adolescents who participated in the Optimisation Study.
Data collection commenced on 12 August for the large-scale randomised controlled trial of a 5-day ParentText digital only intervention. The team has received an amazing response to a Facebook recruitment campaign, exceeding their original target of 15,000 caregivers. As of early September, 20,803 participants have enrolled and 19,955 have completed baseline assessments. A GPI email and WhatsApp support line have been established for study participants to direct questions and concerns to. In addition, to strengthen learnings for future recruitment processes, the team has developed a protocol which outlines expected issues and approaches to managing participant queries. Three month post intervention assessments and qualitative data collection are due to be completed in December and January respectively. With regards to advocacy activities, the ParentText team are liaising with implementing partner Clowns Without Borders South Africa and the GPI Advocacy team to develop a joint strategy for the 5-day ParentText study.
The ParentText team continues to make excellent progress with their research activities. Preliminary analyses of quantitative findings from the ParentText Optimisation Trial were conducted in late May. Analyses provided insights into App engagement with a higher number of modules and goals completed in conditions receiving WhatsApp sessions compared to those without. In addition, longer App duration was recorded for those who received four in-person sessions compared to one in-person session. With regards to qualitative analysis, questions from individual interviews and focus group discussions have informed the development of a coding framework. Following analysis, qualitative synthesis of findings is expected in early July. Supported by implementation partner mothers2mothers, the team is also incorporating feedback and lessons learnt from fieldwork into a data management plan for the upcoming Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT). In addition, a code book to support planning for the next stage of research is undergoing refinement.
Preparations to commence the large-scale RCT of a 5-day ParentText digital only intervention are ongoing. Ethical approval has been received from the University of Cape Town. Following minor revisions, an ethics application was also re-submitted to the University of Oxford in mid June. Implementation partner, Clowns Without Borders South Africa have now completed English to Zulu translations for the WASHText App, which will be the control intervention in the RCT, and for the ParentText intervention App. For the chatbot, testing in English and Zulu are ongoing in June for both WASHText and ParentText. English translations of adverts, logos and certificates are also complete and Zulu translations are in progress. With regards to dissemination, the ParentText team have accepted abstracts confirmed for the Sexual Violence Research Inititative Forum (21-25 October, Cape Town). At the Forum, the team will present on the overall Optimisation Trial study and qualitative findings
Following implementation of the factorial trial in Mpumalanga, South Africa, qualitative data collection is ongoing. The research team is transcribing and translating recordings of completed focus group discussions with caregivers and programme facilitators and in depth interviews with managers from study implementation partner mothers2mothers. In addition, the data management team has finalised cleaning of quantitative pre-test data and cleaning of quantitative post-test data has begun in preparation to merge the dataset. The team has also received an award from the GPI Emerging Trends Fund to conduct a large-scale randomised controlled trial with parents and caregivers of children aged 2 to 17. The study will evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a ParentText 5-day user experience intervention. Preliminary results are expected in September and final results by the end of 2024.
With regards to dissemination activities, members of the ParentText team have submitted abstracts for the following conferences in 2024:
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International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Conference (18 - 21 August, Uppsala).
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The International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII) Convention (2 - 5 June, Limerick).
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The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Forum (21 - 25 October, Cape Town).
2023
The ParentText team is well advanced in its preparation for implementation of the study optimisation trial in August 2023. Ahead of the optimisation work, the team is preparing in-person tools and Open Data Kit surveys in several languages. They are also organising meetings with local stakeholders, including community health care workers, that will support the optimisation work and ultimately inform the development of the ParentText randomised controlled trial (RCT) protocol. The team has received ethics approval from the University of Cape Town and are also developing a revised data management plan.
During this period, the team has finalised ParentText 2.0 teen content. Production for English and Siswati videos and translations in Zulu and Siswati are also ongoing, with additional support provided by our digital development partner IDEMS to mitigate changes to the proposed completion schedule. In terms of capacity building, the team recently presented at an internal GPI Research in Progress meeting. Other activities have included a “writing for The Conversation” workshop and webinar training led by the University of Cape Town communications team. The team are also reviewing future funding opportunities to support the delivery of the planned RCT in Acornhoek, South Africa with community health care workers and onboarding of newly recruited team members is underway.
