African Population and Health Research Center, APHRC Campus, Manga Close, Off Kirawa Road, P.O. Box 10787-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
BMC Prim Care. 2023 Sep 14;24(1):187. doi: 10.1186/s12875-023-02127-0.
Programs supporting initiatives for children younger than three years are inadequate and not accessible to many families, particularly in resource-limited settings. Many primary caregivers have little knowledge on how to monitor the development of their children or the importance of engaging children in stimulative activities during the course of early development. Health system limitations make it difficult for health workers to educate and demonstrate stimulative engagement to caregivers. The massive use of technology can be used to facilitate access to growth and development programs for children. We developed and implemented a mobile phone technology to help caregivers monitor and stimulate their children's development in real-time. This study explored the influence that this intervention had on the caregivers' early child development (ECD) knowledge, attitudes and practices.
In this qualitative cross-sectional study, we conducted interviews through eight (8) focus group discussions, three (3) key informant interviews and 9 indepth interviews among a total of 111 participants including primary caregivers (n = 87), community health volunteers (CHVs) (n = 21) health managers and workers (n = 3) to determine their attitudes and experience with the intervention with regards to improving their KAP. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically.
Caregivers and CHVs reported that the intervention had provided them with new knowledge that positively influenced their ECD caregiving attitudes and practices. CHVs and health workers and managers reported that the intervention had provided caregivers with confidence in caring for their children while increasing their knowledge on how to monitor and stimulate their children's development.
Mobile phone technology can be effectively used to enhance caregivers' knowledge of ECD and enable them to monitor and support their children's development in real-time.
The trial was registered with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry ( www.pactr.org ) database (ID number: PACTR201905787868050 Date: 6/05/2019.
支持三岁以下儿童的计划不足，许多家庭无法获得这些计划，尤其是在资源有限的环境中。许多主要照顾者对如何监测孩子的发育或在早期发育过程中让孩子参与刺激活动的重要性知之甚少。卫生系统的局限性使得卫生工作者难以对照顾者进行教育和示范。大量使用技术可以帮助儿童获得成长和发展计划。我们开发并实施了一种手机技术，以帮助照顾者实时监测和刺激孩子的发育。本研究探讨了这种干预对照顾者早期儿童发展（ECD）知识、态度和实践的影响。
在这项定性的横断面研究中，我们通过 8 个焦点小组讨论、3 个关键知情人访谈和 9 个深度访谈，共对 111 名参与者进行了访谈，包括主要照顾者（n=87）、社区卫生志愿者（CHV）（n=21）、卫生管理人员和工作人员（n=3），以确定他们对干预措施的态度和经验，以改善他们的知识、态度和实践。访谈进行了录音、转录，并进行了主题分析。
照顾者和 CHV 报告说，干预措施为他们提供了新的知识，这对他们的 ECD 照顾态度和实践产生了积极影响。CHV 和卫生工作者和管理人员报告说，干预措施使照顾者对照顾孩子有了信心，同时增加了他们监测和刺激孩子发育的知识。
手机技术可以有效地用于增强照顾者对 ECD 的知识，并使他们能够实时监测和支持孩子的发展。
该试验在泛非临床试验注册中心（www.pactr.org）数据库中进行了注册（注册号：PACTROPACTR201905787868050，日期：2019 年 6 月 5 日）。
