Parenting for Lifelong Health (Young Children) – programme implementation
Parenting for Lifelong Health (Young Children) – programme implementation

Parenting for Lifelong Health (Young Children) – programme implementation

Successful outcomes from evidence based intervention programmes are partially dependent on the quality of delivery of the programme. Research trials are often undertaken with new programmes and delivered by researchers and /or clinical staff, with good levels of fidelity to the programme manual. As delivery is disseminated and becomes embedded into everyday services, quality of delivery can be affected.

PLH-YC – a parenting programme

Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children (PLH-YC) is a parenting programme designed for parents of children aged 2-9 years and developed for use in low and middle income countries. It is being introduced to Montenegro, where after evaluation and adaptation it is being embedded by national professional agencies, who will roll out and deliver the programme with and by local services. This study evaluated the implementation of the programme in Montenegro and evaluated the process of embedding.

Introducing PLY-YC to Montenegro

The study highlights the importance of high-quality implementation in ensuring a program’s effectiveness and long-term sustainability. The researchers describe the process of introducing PLH-YC to Montenegro, which involved several key steps:

Children taking part in a discussion
  1. Engaging government agencies and service providers
  2. Adapting the program to fit the local context
  3. Conducting a pilot study with eight groups
  4. Providing resources and supervision for facilitators
  5. Obtaining independent evaluation of the program

Following the successful pilot, the program gained recognition and accreditation from national professional agencies in Montenegro. This led to its inclusion in national policy documents, further cementing its place in the country’s social services landscape.

The implementation has shown good results:

  • 97 facilitators have been trained
  • 10 coaches and 2 trainers have been certified
  • By the end of 2023, 1,278 parents across 13 municipalities (half of all municipalities in Montenegro) had participated in the program

The article emphasizes the importance of maintaining program fidelity – ensuring that the program is delivered as intended – throughout the implementation process. This focus on quality has contributed to the program’s successful adoption and expansion in Montenegro. Looking ahead, Montenegro now has its own domestic resources to continue implementing the program effectively and plans are in place for widespread dissemination across the country.

Summary

This study provides valuable insights into the process of successfully introducing and embedding an evidence-based parenting program in a new country, which could be useful for similar initiatives in other regions.

Child reading at sunset

The full article is available here.

Reference:

Hutchings, J., Ferdinandi, I., Janowski, R., Ward, C., McCoy, A., Lachman, J.M., Gardner, F. and Williams, M.E. (2024) Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children in Montenegro: Preliminary outcomes, dissemination, and broader embedding of the program. Prevention Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-024-01682-x