KeySteps@JC - Early Child Intervention

Summary

The proposed early intervention is grounded within a framework that incorporates two key aspects: a multi-level component with nested or layered contexts, and a growth aspect with early and on-going social investments to mitigate disparate trajectories among underprivileged children. Capital is built across multiple levels over a three-year period during the critical window of early childhood - among the young children themselves plus their primary caregivers and teachers (Level 1), the family unit and school environment (Level 2), and the larger community (Level 3) that includes infrastructure for extended learning and bridges with other resource institutions. Schools will be stratified and then randomized to receive an integrated multi-disciplinary intervention or a health consultation control. Evaluation will include a comprehensive battery to assess baseline capacity in children, parents, teachers, relationship characteristics between them, as well as the early learning environment at home and at school (Year 1), repeated measures to index intermediate (ongoing for specific individual and family domains, 3 months for school changes, annual progress reports) and final response (Year 3) to treatment, and age- and time-appropriate (e.g. age 4, 5, 6; stage of parenting; experience of teachers) indices of functioning at each annual checkpoint.

Conditions

• Lower Socioeconomic Background

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Child interactive intervention

The Child Interactive Intervention will be delivered through a Dialogic Reading Program, which is an individual/group level intervention component for both families and kindergartens. The original Dialogic Reading Program aims to enhance children's literacy and oral language skills by using the specific technique of shared book reading developed by Whitehurst and colleagues (1988). However, this project will expand from the original Dialogic Reading Program template to include alignment with local kindergarten curriculum and themed interactive activities that help build social competence and emotional maturity in children, in addition to cognitive skills.

BEHAVIORAL

Family Empowerment

Family empowerment in this project can be conceptualized across three main pillars: 1) adaptive parenting; 2) adaptive extended family environment; and 3) familial resources. Typically, adaptive parenting is translated into positive parenting programs for primary caregivers, and the rest of the family environment involves extended caregivers. However, families from disadvantaged environments encounter many hurdles that hinder effective parenting and relationship nurturing, and parents' mental wellbeing are also consistently impacted by competing demands.

BEHAVIORAL

Access to Community Hub and its services

A new model of Community Hub will be implemented and there will be two hubs established in two respective districts. The Community Hubs act as an alternative venue to implement service delivery of intervention packages, such as activity sessions in the Child Interactive Intervention, Parenting Program, and mentor-mentee experience exchange, which provide families institutional flexibility and extended support while internalizing new practices. There will also be health education, consultation support and developmental assessments. The Hubs will play the roles of promoting and interweaving play-based learning into the lives of families frequently faced with competing demands and a lack of resources, and enable a protracted network for parents.

OTHER

Enhancement to the kindergartens

This intervention package aims at providing a better physical and social kindergarten environment to maximize developmental reach and expedite timely interception and feedback without adding burden to teachers and frontline service professionals.

OTHER

Health education, screening, and support

Health seminars and interactive workshop will be provided to the families. Screen for common child health problems (e.g. dental and visual) will also be conducted. A support hotline and website will be established for the participants.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Hong Kong

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Patrick Ip · The University of Hong Kong

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

2 Years

Max Age

8 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-10-01

Primary Completion

2021-09-30

Completion

2022-07-31

Countries

• Hong Kong

Study Locations