-
Dr Paul RamchandaniUniversity of Cambridge
-
Dr Christine O’FarrellyUniversity of Cambridge
-
Tom McBrideEarly Intervention Foundation
-
Dr Margiad Elen WilliamsCentre for Evidence Based Early Intervention
-
Jenny NorthDartington Service Design Lab
Project overview
The project will be adapting an evidence-based shared picture book programme for families with young children for virtual delivery.
Book sharing programmes for parents and their children, are a well-evidenced approach to supporting children’s early language development. The Murray and Cooper Shared Picture Book intervention is delivered face-to-face and has been shown to impact on children’s language development. It has been widely adapted for delivery in many different countries.
In this project, the team will be adapting the Murray and Cooper Shared Picture Book programme to be delivered online, with the aim of creating a programme that could be rolled out widely and delivered remotely to families with the greatest need for support. The use of Rapid-Cycle Design and Testing will allow the iterative development and refining of the programme for virtual delivery.
The project will involve three stages:
- Adapting Murray and Cooper’s evidence-based Shared Picture Book intervention into a five-session virtual programme delivered through an online digital e-learning platform, supported by individualised video-feedback sessions for parents with a facilitator.
- Testing the intervention’s virtual delivery to evaluate feasibility, acceptability and potential cost for wider delivery using Rapid-Cycle Design and Testing.
- Disseminating key findings to assist innovative adaptation and testing of other early childhood programmes, through partnership with the Early Intervention Foundation and the Dartington Service Design Lab.
The project outputs will include: the online shared book reading programme to enhance young children’s language development; an online training package for practitioners; and the reflections of the research team on the use of Rapid-Cycle Design and Testing process for early years interventions. Findings will be disseminated to all areas of the early years intervention sector, including the Department for Education and Public Health England, with the aim of strengthening the way in which early interventions can respond to changing demands, such as the COVID-19 crisis.