PLH Implementers App Updates

We aim to design and create an implementation app that will help any NGO which is implementing parenting programmes to overcome implementation barriers and increase programme uptake. We will develop digital tools which cover different aspects such as training, delivery, monitoring and quality assurance. 

The initial stage in this long-term and ambitious project will be the co-development with service users a ‘’minimal viable product’’ (MVP) with only a handful of components and then testing it for acceptability and usability.

Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) is the first open-access, evidence-based suite of parenting programmes to prevent child abuse in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While offered for free, scalability is limited mainly due to implementation barriers. To increase the likelihood of PLH’s sustainability, it is necessary to revolutionise both the way PLH facilitators are trained and the way programmes are delivered and monitored. One means of doing this is to digitise some of the implementation processes by developing online tools which will be part of an implementation app. We aim to develop tools which will cover all the implementation phases - from preparation, through implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and for all PLH interventions in the suite of programmes. These tools could support not only PLH implementers,  but any NGO that is implementing any parenting programme.

2023

In the last month, the team finalised most of the activities for the in-person workshop in Tanzania which will be focused on development of skill enhancement tools (e.g., videos and audio tutorials).  The team also started to work on a well-being module which will allow implementers various ways to take care of themselves. 

Submission of the GPI Emerging Trends application is also due soon.

In June the team plans to work hand-in-hand with Clowns Without Borders South Africa (CWBSA) to write content which will be the basis for the in-person workshop, and work with IDEMS on the well-being tool.
 

Reporting by Ohad Green, Digital Systems Fellow

Grant writing continued as well as discussions of potential app components as reflected from the qualitative interviews with PLH implementers. The team also started to contact local implementers regarding co-creation workshops and app testing.

Reporting by Ohad Green, Digital Systems Fellow

This month was dedicated to grant writing to support the development of the PLH Implementers App. This will continue in April alongside more interviews with PLH stakeholders and further planning of co-creation activities. 

Reporting by Ohad Green, Digital Systems Fellow

The PLH Implementers’ App team have received the ethics clearance for their scoping phase. 

 Additionally, a first draft of a grant proposal to extend the co-development activities has been written.

 

2022

Reporting by Dr Ohad Green, Digital Systems Fellow

Over the past two months, the team has taken concrete exploratory steps towards a PLH Implementers App. During this period we prepared and submitted an ethics application for the scoping phase of our study, titled ''Towards a PLH implementers app: Exploring what exists, understanding what is needed''. We also started initial discussions with various PLH stakeholders about how digital tools can help to overcome implementation challenges through all implementation stages and for different roles. The next step will be interviewing PLH facilitators from different countries to understand their needs and think together about what they would like to see in the first version of the app as well as the most needed components. This includes extensive preparatory qualitative work, relying on the person-based approach to intervention development, as well as the IDEAS framework.