A Community-based Video-facilitated Parenting Intervention For Child Development In India.

NCT07004608 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: RR_2019_58IND/PCA20231309/SPD20232091
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 1,824
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Aalana Palan designed, implemented and evaluated an integrated early child development \& nutrition intervention promoting nurturing care in the first 1000 days of life in Telangana, India. It was developed in collaboration with UNICEF and the Department of Women Development and Child Welfare Telangana. Aalana Palana in Telugu - implies a caring and nurturing environment provided by caregivers to their children. It promotes an inclusive environment for adequate nutrition, responsive and sensitive caregiving including opportunities for learning. Aalana Palana draws from the Nurturing Care Framework that provides guidance on giving children the best start in their lives. Aalana Palana was developed through extensive community engagement, using culturally relevant and locally adaptable video content. This participatory approach ensured its acceptability and contributed to its success in addressing critical gaps in child growth and development. It was delivered entirely within the existing Integrated Child Development Scheme which ensured its sustainability. The innovative use of facilitated video-viewing allowed for standardized delivery of evidence-based practices, around optimal nutrition and parenting during the first 1000 days, reducing the burden on frontline workers while improving caregiver engagement and comprehension. This intervention was used by Anganwadi workers to conduct group and individual counselling sessions with caregivers in their communities. Aalana Palana implemented a transition from traditional paper-based counselling sessions to a video-based, discussion and demonstration led counselling model. Age specific videos promoted responsive and sensitive parenting, early learning opportunities for children \& include desired nutritional practices for young children \& pregnant women. The content not only describes 'WHAT' behaviours caregiver should adopt, 'HOW' they could include these behaviours in their routines but also 'WHY' a particular behaviour is important for their child's development. A key strength of this study is its policy relevance. Aalana Palana has been incorporated into the ICDS guidelines for Supplementary Nutrition Program in Telangana, providing a blueprint for scaling similar programs across the country and in other LMICs.

Conditions

Child Development; Child Nutrition and Early Child Development

Keywords

Early Child Development; System integration; ICDS; Anganwadi Worker; Facilitated Video Viewing; Parenting intervention; Child nutrition; First 1000 days of life

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Caregiver Reported Early Development Instruments (CREDI)

  A caregiver-reported population-level measure of early childhood development for children aged 0-36 months, was used to assess child development through easily observable milestones and behaviours, focusing on developmental progress. The tool consists of four domains - motor, language, cognitive and socio-emotional. We used the long-form which comprises 108 items. With permission from the publishers, the Sangath team translated the CREDI in Telugu for use in ASPIRE. The Telugu version of the form can be found on their website.

  From July 2023 to January 2024

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• The Family Care Indicators (FCI) questionnaire

  From July 2023 to January 2024

• The Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) framework

  From July 2023 to January 2024

Interventions

Aalana Palana BEHAVIORAL

Alan Palana is a facilitated video viewing intervention which promotes responsive and sensitive parenting, early learning opportunities and desired nutritional practices for young children and pregnant women. The content not only describes 'WHAT' behaviours caregiver should adopt, 'HOW' they could include these behaviours in their routines but also 'WHY' a particular behaviour is important for their child's development.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 0 Years - 3 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study population will comprise all primary caregivers of children under 3 years of age residing in the catchment areas of 30 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) where the Aalana Palana intervention will be implemented. A household-level mapping exercise will be conducted within the selected AWC catchment areas to identify eligible caregivers. All eligible participants will be approached for consent to participate in the study. Those who provide informed consent will be enrolled and subsequently classified into two groups based on their self-reported exposure to the intervention: Exposed group: Participants who report having seen at least one Aalana Palana video in the three months preceding data collection. Unexposed group: Participants who report not having seen any Aalana Palana videos in the same period. A three-month reference period will be used to minimise recall bias regarding exposure to the video-based intervention.

You may qualify if:

• Primary caregiver of a child aged between 0-3 years
• Resident of the intervention area and likely to remain for the study duration
• Able and willing to provide informed consent

You may not qualify if:

• Caregivers of children with severe medical conditions requiring intensive hospital-based care
• Families already enrolled in another similar ECD intervention trial
• Caregivers who do not speak the local language

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sangath: lead
• UNICEF: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Sangath

Goa, 403501, India

Location

Related Publications (12)

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  PMID: 38872286 BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 36600280 BACKGROUND

• Feil EG, Baggett K, Davis B, Landry S, Sheeber L, Leve C, Johnson U. Randomized control trial of an internet-based parenting intervention for mothers of infants. Early Child Res Q. 2020 1st Quarter;50(Pt 1):36-44. doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.11.003. Epub 2018 Dec 8.

  PMID: 32863565 BACKGROUND

• Webster-Stratton C, Kolpacoff M, Hollinsworth T. Self-administered videotape therapy for families with conduct-problem children: comparison with two cost-effective treatments and a control group. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1988 Aug;56(4):558-66. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.56.4.558. No abstract available.

  PMID: 3143750 BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 31931773 BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 30061430 BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 30115074 BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 23017131 BACKGROUND

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  PMID: 37125888 BACKGROUND

• Jeong J, Franchett EE, Ramos de Oliveira CV, Rehmani K, Yousafzai AK. Parenting interventions to promote early child development in the first three years of life: A global systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2021 May 10;18(5):e1003602. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003602. eCollection 2021 May.

  PMID: 33970913 BACKGROUND

• Dulal S, Prost A, Karki S, Saville N, Merom D. Characteristics and effects of integrated nutrition and stimulation interventions to improve the nutritional status and development of children under 5 years of age: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Jul;6(7):e003872. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003872.

  PMID: 34321232 BACKGROUND

• Black MM, Walker SP, Fernald LCH, Andersen CT, DiGirolamo AM, Lu C, McCoy DC, Fink G, Shawar YR, Shiffman J, Devercelli AE, Wodon QT, Vargas-Baron E, Grantham-McGregor S; Lancet Early Childhood Development Series Steering Committee. Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course. Lancet. 2017 Jan 7;389(10064):77-90. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31389-7. Epub 2016 Oct 4.

  PMID: 27717614 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Gauri Divan

  Sangath

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 14, 2025
• First Posted: June 4, 2025
• Study Start: July 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: January 1, 2024
• Study Completion: January 1, 2024
• Last Updated: June 8, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Beginning 1 year after publication with no end date

Locations

IN (1)