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Published on: April 6, 2020
Exploring the Potential of a Behavior Theory-Informed Digital Intervention for Infant Fall Prevention: Mixed Methods
Nipuna Cooray1, Catherine Ho1, Amy Bestman1
1The George Institute for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Barangaroo, Australia.
Insights
A new digital intervention shows promise in preventing infant falls by influencing caregiver behavior. The app was well-received by parents, especially new ones, and offers insights for future improvements in fall prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric injury prevention
- Digital health interventions
- Behavioral science in public health
Background:
- Falls are the leading cause of hospitalization for infants under one year old.
- Existing prevention strategies lack targeted interventions for this age group.
- Digital behavior change interventions (DBCIs) offer a potential avenue for caregiver behavior modification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a user-centered, behavior theory-informed digital intervention for infant fall prevention.
- To assess the intervention's impact on behavioral drivers related to infant fall risk.
- To examine user experience, acceptability, and engagement with the DBCI.
Main Methods:
- A pre-post longitudinal study involving 62 parents of infants under one year old.
- Participants used the digital intervention for three months.
- Data collected included fall risk reduction potential, behavioral drivers, user acceptability, and engagement, supplemented by qualitative interviews.
Main Results:
- A statistically significant increase in the potential to reduce infant falls was observed post-intervention, with a greater effect noted in new parents.
- Parents confirmed the intervention effectively targeted key behavioral drivers for fall prevention.
- The digital intervention demonstrated high user acceptability and positive engagement.
Conclusions:
- The developed digital intervention shows potential for reducing infant falls, particularly benefiting new parents.
- The DBCI positively influenced parental behaviors crucial for infant fall prevention.
- High acceptability and user feedback provide a foundation for refining the intervention.
Background:
Falls are the most common hospitalized injury mechanism in children aged ≤1 years, and currently, there are no targeted prevention interventions. The prevention of falls in children of this age requires changes in the behavior of their caregivers, and theoretically informed digital behavior change interventions (DBCIs) may provide a unique mechanism for achieving effective intervention. However, user acceptance and the ability of DBCIs to effect the required changes in behavior are critical to their likelihood of success.
Objective:
This study aims to evaluate a behavior theory-informed digital intervention developed following a user-centered approach for user experience, the potential for this intervention to prevent infant falls, and its impact on behavioral drivers underpinning fall risk in young children.
Methods:
Parents of infants aged <1 year were recruited and asked to use the intervention for 3 months. A pre-post longitudinal design was used to examine the change in the potential to reduce the risk of falls after a 3-month exposure to the intervention. Postintervention data on behavioral drivers for fall prevention, user acceptability, and engagement with the app were also collected. Interviews were conducted to explore user experiences and identify areas for further improvement of the intervention.
Results:
A total of 62 parents participated in the study. A statistically significant effect on the potential to reduce falls was observed after the intervention. This effect was higher for new parents. Parents agreed that the intervention targeted most of the target behavior drivers. The impact of behavior drivers and intervention on the potential for fall prevention had a positive correlation. The intervention demonstrated good levels of acceptability. Feedback from participants was mostly positive, and the primary area identified for further improvement was widening the scope of the intervention.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrated the promise of a newly developed digital intervention to reduce the risk of infant falls, particularly among new parents. It also showed a positive influence of the DBCI on the drivers of parental behaviors that are important for fall reduction among infants. The acceptability of the app was high, and important insights were gained from users about how to further improve the app.
