None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Experiences in the early years of life can have long lasting impacts on an individual's health, productivity and well-being, which are also relevant to communities, economies and societies. To improve child health and development, parenting interventions especially from conception to age two are crucial to support children in reaching their full potential. Scientific evidence shows that well-designed multicomponent interventions can improve child development outcomes. Our team developed an evidence-based parenting intervention to improve infant health and development in Vietnam. In a previous cluster randomized controlled trial conducted by the team the original version of the parenting intervention, now known as ‘The Early Journey of Life’, was found to be both effective and cost-effective (ACTRN12617000442303). However, evidence on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in ethnically diverse and geographically remote populations remains limited. Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country comprising 54 ethnic groups and diverse geographical settings, including mountainous and highland areas, lowland deltas, and coastal regions, requiring careful cultural and contextual adaptation of interventions. While Early Journey of Life has recently been adapted for these settings, its effectiveness among ethnic minority populations has not yet been evaluated.
Interventions
The Early Journey of Life (EJoL) intervention is based on the community-based multicomponent parenting intervention, Learning Clubs, which was tested in rural Ha Nam (ACTRN12617000442303). To scale EJoL and promote feasible and sustainable implementation it was integrated into the National Expanded Program on Immunization (NEPI). The parenting group sessions are now delivered following routine immunizations in selected provinces.
To ensure the intervention was accessible and culturally appropria
The Early Journey of Life (EJoL) intervention is based on the community-based multicomponent parenting intervention, Learning Clubs, which was tested in rural Ha Nam (ACTRN12617000442303). To scale EJoL and promote feasible and sustainable implementation it was integrated into the National Expanded Program on Immunization (NEPI). The parenting group sessions are now delivered following routine immunizations in selected provinces. To ensure the intervention was accessible and culturally appropriate, EJoL underwent a period of community consultation to develop a version that was culturally adapted and accessible in local languages in partnership with national and provincial governments. The EJoL intervention includes twelve practice-based sessions of approximately 30 - 45 minutes delivered over the course of 18 months, covering prenatal care during pregnancy, early learning to support child cognitive development, responsive caregiving, adequate nutrition, health, safety, and hygiene. Two of these twelve sessions are delivered during pregnancy and the remaining ten are delivered to both mother and child post birth. Sessions will take place at commune health centres (CHCs), satellite CHCs, or mobile immunization spots. Participant attendance, adherence, and program coverage will be monitored through standardized checklists. Commune or village health workers will serve as facilitators, delivering these sessions to small groups of up to 20 caregivers. Facilitators will receive training in two phases, Phase 1 consists of the self-paced e-learning course, 'Early Childhood Care and Development in the First 2,000 Days', which comprises nine modules and requires approximately six hours to complete. Upon completion of Phase 1, facilitators will attend a two day, face to face Phase 2 training workshop. Phase 2 will cover integrating EJoL into immunization services through role playing, communication skills, participant engagement techniques, and quality assurance.
Sponsors
Monash Universty
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
All pregnant women less than 35 weeks gestation living in the selected communes will be eligible to participate. All newborns of pregnant women that completed the pregnancy sessions will be eligible to participate.
Exclusion criteria
Women that are not pregnant or who do not live in the province of Lai Chau will be excluded. Women with cognitive or physical disabilities that would limit their ability to attend sessions will be excluded, as determined by commune health workers.
Outcome results
None listed