Beckerman-Hsu Jacob P, Gago Cristina, Aftosmes-Tobio Alyssa, Jurkowski Janine M, Lansburg Kindra, Leonard Jessie, Torrico Merieka, Haneuse Sebastien, Subramanian S V, Kenney Erica L, Davison Kirsten K
Boston College School of Social Work, McGuinn Hall 106K, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA.
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Jan 22;21(1):201. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10159-3.
Peer leadership can be an effective strategy for implementing health programs, benefiting both program participants and peer leaders. To realize such benefits, the peer leader role must be appropriate for the community context. Also, peer leaders must find their role acceptable (i.e., satisfactory) to ensure their successful recruitment and retention. To date, parent peer leaders have seldom been part of early childhood obesity prevention efforts. Moreover, parents at Head Start preschools have rarely been engaged as peer leaders. The aim of this study is to evaluate the appropriateness and acceptability of an innovative model for engaging parents as peer leaders for this novel content area (early childhood obesity prevention) and setting (Head Start).
Parents Connect for Healthy Living (PConnect) is a 10-session parent program being implemented in Head Start preschools as part of the Communities for Healthy Living early childhood obesity prevention trial. PConnect is co-led by a parent peer facilitator who is paired with a Head Start staff facilitator. In the spring of 2019, 10 PConnect facilitators participated in a semi-structured interview about their experience. Interview transcripts were analyzed by two coders using an inductive-deductive hybrid analysis. Themes were identified and member-checked with two interviewees.
Themes identified applied equally to parent and staff facilitators. Acceptability was high because PConnect facilitators were able to learn and teach, establish meaningful relationships, and positively impact the parents participating in their groups, although facilitators did express frustration when low attendance limited their reach. Appropriateness was also high, as PConnect provided adequate structure and support without being overly rigid, and facilitators were able to overcome most challenges they encountered.
The PConnect co-facilitation model was highly acceptable and appropriate for both the parent facilitators (peer leaders) and the staff facilitators. Including parents as peer leaders aligns to Head Start's emphasis on parent engagement, making it a strong candidate for sustained implementation in Head Start. The insights gained about the drivers of peer leadership appropriateness and acceptability in this particular context may be used to inform the design and implementation of peer-led health programs elsewhere.
clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03334669 (7-11-17).
同伴领导可以成为实施健康项目的有效策略，使项目参与者和同伴领导者都受益。为实现这些益处，同伴领导者的角色必须适合社区背景。此外，同伴领导者必须认为自己的角色是可接受的（即令人满意的），以确保他们能够成功招募并留任。迄今为止，家长同伴领导者很少参与幼儿肥胖预防工作。此外，开端计划学前班的家长很少被聘为同伴领导者。本研究的目的是评估一种创新模式的适用性和可接受性，该模式让家长作为同伴领导者参与这一新的内容领域（幼儿肥胖预防）和环境（开端计划）。
“家长携手健康生活”（PConnect）是一项为期10节的家长项目，作为“健康生活社区”幼儿肥胖预防试验的一部分，正在开端计划学前班实施。PConnect由一名家长同伴促进者和一名开端计划工作人员促进者共同领导。2019年春季，10名PConnect促进者参加了关于他们经历的半结构化访谈。两名编码员使用归纳 - 演绎混合分析法对访谈记录进行了分析。确定了主题，并与两名受访者进行了成员核对。
确定的主题同样适用于家长促进者和工作人员促进者。可接受性很高，因为PConnect促进者能够学习和教学、建立有意义的关系，并对参与其小组的家长产生积极影响，尽管当低出勤率限制了他们的影响力时，促进者确实表达了沮丧情绪。适用性也很高，因为PConnect提供了适当的结构和支持，且不过于僵化，促进者能够克服他们遇到的大多数挑战。
PConnect共同促进模式对家长促进者（同伴领导者）和工作人员促进者来说都是高度可接受和适用的。将家长纳入同伴领导者符合开端计划对家长参与的重视，使其成为在开端计划中持续实施的有力候选方案。在这一特定背景下获得的关于同伴领导适用性和可接受性驱动因素的见解，可用于为其他地方由同伴主导的健康项目的设计和实施提供信息。
clinicaltrials.gov，NCT03334669（2017年11月7日）。
