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. 2023 Oct 24;2023(10):CD014722. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD014722.pub2

ISRCTN77689525.

Study name Sharing stories: A digital intervention for caregivers with young children in the COVID‐19 era to promote child social, emotional and language development, responsive parenting and parental mental well‐being in Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda
Methods Study design: RCT
Country: Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda
Participants Caregivers of young children aged between 9 and 32 months
Inclusion criteria: 
a. primary caregivers of children between the ages of 9‐32 months at enrolment;
b. living in selected areas;
c. have access to a working smartphone in their household.
Exclusion criteria:
1. caregivers aged under 18 years
Stated purpose: a digital intervention for caregivers with young children in the COVID‐19 era to promote child social, emotional and language development, responsive parenting and parental mental well‐being
Interventions Intervention:
Sharing stories
The intervention is based on the World Health Organization’s Parenting for Lifelong Health shared reading programme and the WHO Thinking Healthy programme. The Parenting for Lifelong Health shared reading programme will be combined with specific content on caregiver mental health and well‐being, adapted for digital delivery via WhatsApp. Caregivers in the intervention group will receive all intervention content on WhatsApp over a six‐week period, using a combination of text and audio messages, photos, infographics and short video clips. A weekly WhatsApp group chat session is used to deliver the intervention content, complimented by recap messages throughout the week. In addition, caregivers receive two digital picture books a week. Each group consists of 30 to 40 participants, moderated by two trained intervention facilitators, fluent in the local languages.
Control:
Waiting list (caregivers in the control condition will receive no intervention during the duration of the trial).
Outcomes Participants'outcomes of interest for this review

  1. Mental health symptoms/distress/PTSD – Parental Stress Scale, short form (PSS)

  2. Mental health symptoms/depression – Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9)

  3. Mental health symptoms/anxiety – Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7 (GAD‐7)


Economic outcomes
Nil
Time points: Baseline, post‐intervention (6 weeks)
Starting date 25 August 2020 (first enrolment)
Completed trial (31 May 2021)
Contact information Sarah Skeen, skeen@sun.ac.za
Notes Source of funding: The LEGO Foundation
Prospective trial registration number: ISRCTN77689525