Enhancing Social Communication and Emotional Development in Under 5 Children

In the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the conversation has shifted from the complexity of ensuring decrease in infant mortality to that of holistic wellbeing of children from conception onwards by ensuring early learning opportunities along with nutrition, security and safety. About 13 - 23 percent children in Bangladesh present symptoms of diagnosable and preventable mental health conditions in early childhood. The aim of this effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 2 cluster randomized trial is to implement training program to enhance parental understanding of child's social communication and emotional development, ways to support positive behavior management skills, and to enhance parents' cognizance about when professional help may be sought. Shuchona Foundation's module-based training manual on Social Communication and Emotional Skill Development (SCESD) is designed to sensitize and educate parents/ caregivers on child development. This module will be implemented in Sonargaon, Gojaria and Raiganj Upazilas. The administrative wards in the unions will serve as clusters for the study's first phase. The first phase of six months duration will explore qualitatively the adaptability of existing health system, train field level health workers, training of the data collectors on administering Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), enrol mothers for equipping them with knowledge and skill to stimulate Early Childhood Development (ECD) and identify delayed childhood development, followed by assessment of ability of mothers to note secondary outcomes or delay at the earliest. The sessions for mother will be conducted using the existing health system of Bangladesh. A mixed-methods approach comprising of process mapping, qualitative and quantitative data analyses will be used to assess implementation of the intervention with focus on identifying failures in implementation, why they exist and how to reduce them for future implementation and scale-up.