Intervention on Development and Growth at Children in Poverty

Summary

Children in extreme poverty lack adequate care and face increased health risks. The earlier poverty strikes in the developmental process, the more deleterious and long-lasting its effects. There is, however, growing evidence that early interventions can prevent the negative consequences. Such interventions are effective, particularly when they are of high quality, organized at home and parents are involved. Recently, baseline assessment of developmental and nutritional status of SOS children and children in extreme poverty in Jimma region of South-West Ethiopia revealed that these children have developmental problems in language, motor, social-emotional skills and nutritional status. The impact of play-oriented stimulation activities integrated into the existing SOS basic program, on developmental outcomes, has never been investigated in this context. The main objective of the study is, therefore, to evaluate the impact of play-oriented stimulation integrated into the basic SOS program on the developmental outcomes of children living with foster families. This was done by comparing the intervention children with their age-matched children (control), not receiving the stimulation package. It was hypothesized that this package would significantly improve the developmental skills of these children.

Conditions

• Child Malnutrition

Interventions

OTHER

basic services

The age-matched control children received the basic services such as family-home, food, clothing, health care, protection and education. However, they were not provided with the play-based developmental stimulation.

OTHER

the play-based developmental stimulation

Children in the intervention group received basic services such as family-home, food, clothing, health care, protection and education for older children. In addition, there received play-based developmental stimulation integrated into the services.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Jimma University

  collaborator OTHER

• VLIR-UOS (Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad).

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Hasselt University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Teklu Gemechu Abessa · Jimma University

• Mekitie Wondafrash, nutritionist · Jimma University

• Patrick Kolsteren, prof.dr · University Ghent

• Berhanu Nigussie Worku, psychologist · Jimma University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

3 Months

Max Age

59 Months

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2015-10-31

Primary Completion

2016-07-31

Completion

2016-07-31

Countries

• Belgium
• Ethiopia

Study Locations