Prof Ce Zhang
Prof Stell Hartinger Pena
Prof Dana McCoy
Dr Leonel Aguilar
Dr Lena Jäggi
Andreana Castellanos
Kristen Hinckley
Marta Dormal
Hector Verastegui
Milagros Alvarado
Maria-Luisa Huaylinos
Veronica Machuca
Raul Flores
Maria Catalina Gastiaburu
Nerita Quispe
Sarah Hatch
Goal:
Timeframe:
Lead researcher(s):
The first few years of life are a crucial timeframe for development. They lay the foundation for all future learning and acquisition of physical as well as emotional skills. Children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are often faced with adversities such as poverty, disease and malnutrition, hindering development during the first years of life. One promising intervention in these settings involves home visits from specialized health-care staff and social workers, who are able to support parents in establishing a healthy environment for their children. However, these programmes are difficult to scale up due to economic, logistical and social challenges.
The rapid proliferation of smart-phones in LMICs presents an opportunity to reach these vulnerable populations, especially in rural and remote areas. For example, the AI-based digital platform Afini offers guidance and helps parents to support the development of their children with age-appropriate activities. However, we have not yet established whether this digital tool provides a non-inferior support to in-home visits or whether it is accepted by caregivers. The aim of this research consortium is to investigate the reach, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of this tool in LMICs. To this end, a randomized controlled study was completed in 2024, involving 2,400 families in San Marco province, Peru. Families were randomly assigned to a control or treatment group, and the children’s cognitive and motor development was evaluated, alongside parental engagement with children. The group given access to the Afini platform will be compared to a cohort receiving home visits from trained staff, considered the gold standard for supporting vulnerable families.
Within the framework of this study, over 200 new videos were added to the Afini platform, ChatGPT was integrated to improve response to user queries and a new educational programme specifically designed to aid early childhood education was launched by the Afini team. The researchers hope that the results of this study will inform practitioners and policymakers in finding new ways to support parents with young children in resource-limited settings.
