The investigators aim to deliver a tele-wellness supported app to Baltimore City's FamilyChild Care Home (FCCH) providers who are caring for children of Essential Personnel. Oncea pre-survey is conducted, login information will be assigned to 30 Family Child CareHome providers and parents the FCCH serve. Providers and Parents will receive self-careand parenting/parent engagement support through the app and through a tele-wellnessservice, Ask a Nurse, provided by community health nurses at the Johns Hopkins School ofNursing. Children will have access to gamified learning materials in early literacy,math, social-emotional learning, and nutrition.
The investigators will adapt and deliver a tele-wellness supported digital toolkit via an
app for Baltimore City's Family Child Care Home (FCCH) providers and the families the
FCCH serve. Through this digital toolkit, the investigators aim to provide related
self-care support, parent/parent engagement support for both Family Child Care Home
providers and parents, and provide access to early literacy, math, social-emotional
learning, and nutrition games for children (3-6 years old). Additionally, Family Child
Care Home providers and parents will have access to a hotline and email to the Ask a
Nurse program-a tele-wellness program run by community registered nurses at Johns Hopkins
School of Nursing. Through Ask a Nurse, providers and parents will be able to receive
wellness counseling from licensed registered nurses and care coordination to address
specific social needs. The tele-wellness service is NOT intended to directly address
health issues, diagnose, or prescribe. In summary, Family Child Care Home providers will
have access to self-care and parent engagement resources and parents will have access to
self-care and parenting resources in addition to the games for the child(ren).
The first phase of this study is to tailor an existing app, Escribo Play that already has
gamified early literacy and math tools, and expand its scope by including self-care and
parenting/parent engagement support for Family Child Care Home Providers and the parents
the FCCH serve. Additionally, the investigators are creating gamified social-emotional
learning and nutrition games for the children.
The second phase is a pre-post test where the investigator will recruit FCCH providers
enrolled in the Essential Personnel Child Care or School-Aged program and the parents the
FCCH serve to fill out health surveys before and 15 weeks post engagement with the app.
The investigators hypothesize that engagement with the digital toolkit will improve
provider and parental perceived level of stress, informational support, access to
learning games, as well as social, emotional, and behavioral functioning in children.
Device: FamilyChildCare (provisional name of app)
Parents will provide their child(ren) access to a smartphone, tablet, or computer for
approximately 30 minutes, three times per week for 15 weeks with a total dosage of
instruction of about 22.5 hours. Parents and providers will receive self-care, parenting,
and parent engagement tips and resources through push notifications twice a day.
Additionally, daily reminders will be sent to parents through push notification to give
their child(ren) access to the learning games. After 15 weeks of app engagement, the
providers and parents will be contacted by the PI to notify them of the 15 week time mark
and provide the information for post-surveys via Qualtrics.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Licensed Family Child Care Home Providers operating in Baltimore City who are
approved or was once approved to remain open during COVID-19 through the Essential
Personnel Child Care or School-Aged Program.
- Parents or legal adult guardians of young children (3-6 years old) who have utilized
or continue to utilize the services of Family Child Care Home providers enrolled in
the study.
- All participants must have access to a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Licensed Family Child Care Home Providers not enrolled or was never enrolled in the
Essential Personnel Child Care or School-Aged Program
- Parents of young children (3-6 years old) who have not utilized the services of
Licensed Family Child Care Home Providers in the Essential Personnel Child Care or
School-Aged Program
- FCCH providers not operating in Baltimore City
- FCCH providers who do not have at least 1 parent consenting to participate in the
study.
Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Lucine Francis, PhD, Principal Investigator
Johns Hopkins University