‘Tipping the balance' – an evaluation of COVID-19 parenting resources developed and adapted for child protection during global emergency responses

Abstract

Background: Parenting was severely affected by lockdown, school closure, illness, movement restrictions and the many sudden changes wrought by the global emergence of COVID-19. Responding to the need for a rapid emergency response to support parents and caregivers, a consortium of providers developed a suite of COVID-19 parenting resources based on evidence-based parenting interventions. Launched in March 2020, these were adapted for online use, with versions in over 100 languages, and the possibility for downloading, radio, and oral provision. A rapid qualitative evaluation initiative was conducted from September 2020 to February 2021 to inform the procedure, understand the impact and to drive future provision. Methods: The evaluation collected openended responses surveys (n = 495 participants) and in-depth interviews with parents, providers, and adolescent children (n = 22) from 14 countries and one global source. Data were gathered on parenting challenges during COVID-19 and the utility of the COVID-19 parenting resources. In-depth, semi-structured interviews explored the same concepts and elaborated on challenges, utility of the resources, and recommendations for the future. Data were coded in a hierarchy from basic, organising and global theme generation.Results: The parenting resources equipped parents with information and practices transforming everyday lives, and interactions. The tips provided prompts and permissions related to children’s behaviour, enabled communications, and offered ways to reduce stress, monitor behaviour and navigate discipline challenges. The timeliness of the resources as well as the clarity and ease of use were seen as advantages. Future direction and possible hurdles related to adaptations needed according to recipient, child age, local context, culture, and new challenges. Conclusions: Overall findings point to the value and utility of this unprecedented global response to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Results suggest that rapid provision of parenting resources at scale is feasible and of use and opens a pathway for providing evidence-based interventions under COVID-19 constraints.

The Asian Conference on Education 2022: Official Conference Proceedings

“…In response to the demand for easily accessible and practical parenting advice during the lockdown, governments and other organisations, such as the WHO, UNICEF, and World Childhood Foundation, have made reading materials, broadcasts, and videos available online (Lasecke et al, 2022;Sherr et al, 2022). According to the findings identified, it is feasible to conduct rapid distribution parenting materials on a broad scale within COVID-19 restrictions and beneficial for parents from a variety of backgrounds (Sherr et al, 2022). Parents were appreciative of the resources' timeliness, low cost, and convenience of use (i.e., parents can download resources for numerous uses at no cost).…”

“…Notably, Sherr (2022) reported parental interests in integrating interactive components into online resource platforms. Parents who were interviewed remarked that there was rarely a section on websites where they could provide feedback on the advice presented, as well as commenting on results regarding specific cases or age groups.…”

“…Limited access to parenting support during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a crucial issue. (Sherr et al, 2022;Tomlinson et al, 2022). The lockdown, school closures, travel restrictions, and limited access to medical services had a substantial impact on parents, especially in families with special needs (Wisen-Vincent & Bokoch, 2022).…”

CHAMPP4KIDS: Mixed methods study protocol to evaluate acceptability and feasibility of Parenting for Lifelong Health materials in a Canadian context

“…In response to the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented for children, caregivers and families around the world, the Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) group, in collaboration with the WHO and UNICEF, developed open-source evidence-based playful parenting resources from their existing parenting programs to reach caregivers at the population level [ 5 , 60 , 61 ]. Available in over 100 languages, these resources aim to impart knowledge and provide support and concrete tools to caregivers which, in turn, assist children in reaching their full developmental potential [ 5 , 62 ]. The PLH resources are diverse in format; they include parenting tip sheets formatted as digital infographics, audio packs, social media kits and public service announcements.…”

“…As of January 2023, PLH COVID-19 playful parenting resources had reached over 210 million people globally, mostly in Asia and Africa [ 63 ]. Only one study to date has examined the feasibility and acceptability of the PLH parenting tip sheets across six middle- and low-income countries [ 5 ]. Caregivers in the study said they gained important information and practical strategies from the tip sheets to support them during the pandemic, including reductions in their use of harsh discipline [ 5 ].…”