Such courses may be general, covering the most common issues parents may encounter, or specific, for infants, toddlers, children and teenagers.
The second shift involves demands on families due to societal changes in areas including employment, inequity in incomes, exposure to disease and modern influences such as drug use, technology and urbanization.
[3] Some programmes are intended to improve parents’ knowledge and practices related to caregiving, nutrition and child health,[4] while others focus on early education and learning.
[16] Depending on the type of programme, the credentials and training of the service provider and supervision practices are critical to improving its quality.
Some follow a very structured curriculum with weekly lessons plans and a detailed script for the service providers, while others are less formal with topics generated based on participant needs and interests.
The course promotes the ability of the participants to understand the social needs of children, the disregard of which can lead to undesirable behaviors.
Findings from a recently published review of eleven effectiveness trials and four scaled-up parenting programmes reflect a range in delivery settings, generation of target beneficiaries, curricula and key messages.
The effects of the evaluated programmes were also stronger among younger children; this result demonstrates support for the hypothesis that earlier intervention yields better outcomes.
Also, results were stronger for poorer children when compared with their wealthier peers; this finding validates previous work on programmes impact and disadvantage.
[21] A 2016 Cochrane systematic review of group-based parent training programs for improving emotional and behavioral adjustment in young children found tentative support for their short term effectiveness.
[21] In summary, parenting programmes exist within a complex landscape and represent a myriad of designs, making it difficult to isolate and compare effective mechanisms.
In general, these programmes have been effective in improving parenting practices, knowledge and attitudes and in supporting children’s positive health, growth, development, learning and protection.
This recommendation stems not only from the shifting definition of who is a parent because of health, demographic and economic changes in society, but also the recognition that the immediate context of a young child consists of several key individuals who constitute a family.
UNESCO’s report contained an important set of approaches that resonate even today, for example with respect to the Millennium Development Goals.
Family intervention programmes, although primarily from high-income countries, have been very effective in improving well-being in a service and cost-effective manner.
Text taken from Investing against Evidence: The Global State of Early Childhood Care and Education, 159-164, Marope, P.T.M., Kaga, Y., UNESCO.