Top 10 Research Lessons Learned From a Digital Child-Rearing Program in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Multicase...

Area of Science:

• Global child development and parenting interventions.
• Digital health and e-learning in public health.
• Cross-cultural adaptation of health programs.

Background:

• Parenting programs are globally recognized for improving child and parental outcomes.
• Digital delivery of parenting programs is as effective as in-person, with high parent acceptability.
• Programs must be tailored to specific contexts, cultures, and user expectations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify research lessons from the Thrive by Five International Program, a large-scale digital and non-digital parenting initiative.
• To examine research and development (R&D) processes and sociocultural influences on the program.
• To synthesize learnings using the Medical Research Council's framework for complex interventions.

Main Methods:

• A multicase study design was employed across 10 low- and middle-income countries.
• Data analysis involved three phases: qualitative analysis, synthesis for learning transfer, and secondary analysis of program theory and context.
• Focus on understanding program variation and influence by diverse sociocultural factors.

Main Results:

• Key themes emerged: value of partnerships, collaborative practice strategies, importance of defining the target audience early in R&D, context-specific digital dissemination, and managing linguistic diversity.
• Learnings integrated context and cultural diversity throughout the findings.
• Successful R&D requires identifying end-users and employing tailored dissemination.

Conclusions:

• Digital parenting programs need to be accessible, appropriate, and aligned with ICT infrastructure.
• A multichannel approach (digital and non-digital) is essential when digital-only is not feasible.
• Cross-sectoral partnerships and dedicated time for building respectful, culturally aware collaborations are critical for success.