Bennin Fiona, Theunissen Helene, Norris Shane A, Prioreschi Alessandra
SA MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Clinical Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024 Aug 29;4(8):e0002233. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002233. eCollection 2024.
Children require opportunities to participate in unstructured, unrestricted active play as infants, to encourage positive health, socioemotional and developmental outcomes in life. Certain social and environmental factors in the home setting can limit participation in play, particularly in low resource settings. As caregivers are their infants' first teachers, they have the important role of providing opportunities and space for children to learn through play. This mixed methods, cross-sectional study aimed to test the acceptability of an intervention developed to improve health literacy around play and development with mothers from Soweto, South Africa. Fifteen mothers with infants aged 0-3 months were included to form a Community Advisory Group (CAG). Two rounds of focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to explore the understanding of, and barriers to play and development, and to determine the acceptability of an intervention prototype. The prototype included developmentally appropriate activities presented in video format, demonstrations of how to make toys, infographics and other educational material which would be delivered to participants as part of the intervention. A further questionnaire was administered to participants one week after the FGD to determine the acceptability of intervention activities which the participants completed at home, with their infants. Participants reported several barriers to play, including limited options for safe outdoor play, overcrowding, insufficient time, limited resources, and conflicting information. Participants suggested that the intervention content be delivered every 1-2 weeks, through a data-free app. Overall, the prototype activities tested at home were deemed acceptable. The reported barriers, together with reduced motivation and self-efficacy observed in the participants, guided the researchers to develop intervention content focused on improving health literacy in play and development, delivered in the form of an interactive mobile app. Future research will develop and test the efficacy of this intervention in a low resource setting in South Africa.
儿童在婴儿期需要有机会参与无组织、无限制的主动游戏，以促进积极的健康、社会情感和生活发展成果。家庭环境中的某些社会和环境因素会限制游戏参与，尤其是在资源匮乏的环境中。由于照顾者是婴儿的第一任老师，他们在为儿童提供通过游戏学习的机会和空间方面起着重要作用。这项混合方法的横断面研究旨在测试一项干预措施的可接受性，该干预措施是为提高南非索韦托地区母亲们关于游戏和发展的健康素养而开发的。15名有0至3个月大婴儿的母亲被纳入，组成了一个社区咨询小组（CAG）。进行了两轮焦点小组讨论（FGD），以探讨对游戏和发展的理解以及障碍，并确定干预原型的可接受性。该原型包括以视频形式呈现的适合不同发育阶段的活动、制作玩具的示范、信息图表和其他教育材料，这些将作为干预的一部分提供给参与者。在焦点小组讨论一周后，又向参与者发放了一份问卷，以确定参与者在家中与婴儿一起完成的干预活动的可接受性。参与者报告了游戏的几个障碍，包括安全户外游戏的选择有限、过度拥挤、时间不足、资源有限以及信息相互矛盾。参与者建议通过一个无需数据的应用程序每1至2周提供一次干预内容。总体而言，在家中测试的原型活动被认为是可接受的。报告的障碍，以及在参与者中观察到的动机和自我效能感降低的情况，引导研究人员开发以互动移动应用程序形式呈现的、侧重于提高游戏和发展方面健康素养的干预内容。未来的研究将在南非的一个资源匮乏环境中开发并测试该干预措施的效果。
