Parenting for Lifelong Health: A suite of parenting programmes to prevent violence

Project outline

Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) is a suite of open access, non-commercialised parenting programmes to prevent violence in low-resource settings. These programmes have been developed and rigorously tested through a collaboration between WHO, Stellenbosch University in South Africa, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the universities of Oxford and Bangor in the United Kingdom, and UNICEF. Training in the PLH programmes is led by various non-governmental organisations, including Clowns Without Borders South Africa (South Africa), the Prevention Research for Community, Family and Child Health at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and the Children’s Early Intervention Trust (Wales).

After showing positive results in the evaluations, the programmes are currently being scaled up in over 20 low- and middle-income countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, South-eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. Additionally, several studies of the programmes are currently underway to further develop the evidence base for these interventions. These include:

1) PLH-Philippines: an adaptation, feasibility pilot, and randomised controlled trial of PLH for Young Children ages 2 to 6 years and PLH for Teens ages 10 to 18;

2) RISE Prevention of child mental health problems in South-eastern Europe - Adapt, Optimize, Test, and Extend PLH: Multiphase optimisation study of PLH for Young Children ages 2 to 9 years

3) Thailand: An adaptation, feasibility pilot, and randomised controlled trial of PLH for Young Children ages 2 to 9 years within the public health system

4) PLH-SUPER (Scale-Up of Parenting Evaluation Research): a study of the implementation, effectiveness, and scale-up of PLH across several low- and middle-income countries

5) PLH Digital: development and testing of an app-based version of PLH for Teens

6) Furaha Adolescent Implementation Research (FAIR): evaluation of implementation during scale-up of PLH for Teens in Tanzania

7) Harnessing Implementation Science to Maximise the Effectiveness and Policy Impact of Parenting Interventions to Reduce Violence Against Children in Southeast Asia

Completed studies include:

• Parenting for Lifelong Health – the Sinovuyo Teen Program
• Reducing abuse and maltreatment of children in high-risk families in South Africa